Loves, Lies, Wars and Battles
by Dreaming June
Summary: ON HIATUS Seven years after the Millenium, the world is saved, returning to normal from its threatened doom. But all is not well in the Night World. A new war is impending as the newest Power rises to battle against the most ancient evil.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys, I'm really new at this. This is my first fic ever. So any reviews/comments either positive or negative would be deeply appreciated. But most of all, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1 – Do Not Give In

**San Francisco - 2000**

She was only eleven years of age that day. That life-changing, terrifying, horrific day. A small girl, with a creamy porcelain pale complexion that was stark white with the terror that coursed through her small body, large mahogany brown eyes that were raw and red from the silent sobbing she swallowed as the three strangers ransacked her home, and long silky black hair, matted with sweat, blood and tears.

It had started out as a normal day. She had gone to school. She liked school. She revelled in the classroom, she enjoyed learning and gaining as much knowledge as she physically could. Her mother had waited outside the green school gates for her at three o'clock and when the school bell rang, she ran to the gate and leapt into her mother's car.

But as they drove home, she could sense an odd tension in the vehicle. She hadn't taken much notice of it then, but her mother looked extremely stressed. Her own black hair was unkempt and her brown eyes were glued to the road, not at all making eye contact with her young daughter.

"Mum, what's wrong?" she asked. As soon as her mother pulled the car into the driveway, she pulled her tiny daughter out, carrying her into the house and rushing her into the basement.

"Mica, honey, you have to promise me something." Her mother released her daughter onto the hard stone floor of the basement. She knelt down to her daughter's eye level and spoke as quickly, softly and earnestly as she possibly could. "You have to promise me that no matter what you hear or what you see, you must stay down here until it is safe. Do you understand me?"

Mica, even at the age of eleven, was an intelligent child, and she knew that her mother was very serious at that moment. "Yes," was all that Mica responded with.

"Always remember that I love you and no matter what, do not give in." Tears were now streaming heavily down her face. With fast fingers, she reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace that she had possessed for decades. Opening her daughter's small hand, she dropped the locket gently onto her palm. "I love you."

"I love you, too, mum." Mica was now tearing up. Suddenly footsteps thundered on the floor above them.

"Okay, remember, stay in here until it's completely safe." Her mother said, standing up. "_Don't ever give in_." Mica nodded obediently and sat down on the floor between an old sofa and a huge wooden hope chest.

Her mother had rushed upstairs.

"Where is she, witch?" A loud male voice demanded.

"Leave. Now." came her mother's voice. A loud thump resonated through the walls and floors, followed by a scream. Clenching her fists, Mica squeezed her eyes shut as she heard a shriek and another thud. Hot tears sprung from her dark eyes as she mentally ordered herself not to run up to her mother in some vain attempt to protect her. But she had made a promise and if there was one thing that Mica stood by, it was her promises. Especially those she made to her mother.

Sobbing and choking, Mica's hearing tuned out of the noises above her. Pressing the heels of her palms against her temples, she tried to block out the pain and the terror that emanated from the floor above her.

Suddenly the noise stopped. "Cal, the girl isn't here!" A female voice announced. "We have to get going."

"I can smell her, she's here." _Cal_ sneered back. "You can too, can't you?"

"Think, Calcite!" The girl responded. "She lives here; of course you can smell her here. We're going. Now." Footsteps stomped out of the house and Mica opened her mahogany eyes, not moving from her hiding place.

She sat there for what seemed like hours, and after a long while, she drifted into the realm of dreams.

"This is the house?" Quinn raised a dark eyebrow, gazing up at the huge house he, Jezebel Redfern and Thea Harman had been sent to investigate.

"Come on, quit whinging." Jez slid up the threshold, and carefully and silently tried the doorknob. Finding it locked, she stepped back and her silvery blue eyes studied the house.

"There." Quinn pointed out the balcony. His sharp black eyes noticed the balcony door unlocked.

"Jez, can you get it?" Thea asked. Jez shot her a look. _Of course she can._ Thea reprimanded herself. Jez swung a flexible, limber leg onto the hand railing of the front steps and reached up with her hands to the edge of the balcony flooring. She paused a second.

"Hmm, maybe she can't." Quinn mused quietly to Thea as the two stood at the end of the drive way, watching.

"I heard that." Jez hissed. She pulled herself up in a quick fluid motion and flipped over the balcony railing and landed smoothly onto the hard stone floor. She turned back to Quinn, raised an eyebrow and smirked confidently.

"Oh, stop gloating and get on with it." Quinn murmured. Jez entered the house and looked around. Everything seemed normal. Silently getting to the front door, she opened it and let Quinn and Thea in.

Quinn, being the team leader of this operation, delegated. "I'll check out upstairs, Jez, you search the ground floor, and Thea, try the basement." Jez nodded, silently racing into the dining room where she sensed and smelt something gone awry. Thea gave Quinn a quick smile, a look of understanding, as she stepped quickly down onto the basement steps.

As her foot connected with the third step of the rickety basement staircase, her heart and her head exploded in a whirlwind of emotion. Terror, pain, panic, heartache, grief, the worst of the worst. Thea's usually warm brown eyes were welling up from all the pain that was swimming in her mind. Sure, she was trained for the usual Circle Daybreak missions, but this was something no witch could handle. She pushed herself onwards, blocking out as much of the hurt as possible and reached the very end of the basement floor.

There sat a little girl. Ten, or maybe eleven. She had her hands clasped around her knees, hugging them to her chest. Thea dropped to her knees in front of the girl, but she flinched away. Waves and waves of fear hit Thea, nearly knocking her out. Wincing, Thea summoned all the warmth that she could feel in her own heart and sent as much comforting energy as she could to the poor child.

"Don't worry; I'm not there to hurt you." Thea said softly. She sent out a telepathic cry, summoning Quinn and Jez down to the basement. "My name is Thea." The girl seemed more soothed, but she didn't speak. Broken, lonely mahogany eyes gazed up at Thea.

"Harman, what'd you find?" Jez enquired as soon as she hit the basement floor from her ten foot jump from the top of the staircase. The little girl startled, pushing herself back up against the wall and clenching her fists tightly.

"She's bleeding." Quinn said, his eyes cold as he joined the three females in the basement. Thea looked down at the girl's hands. He was right. A gold chain dangled from her small hands, coppery blood tarnishing the necklace and dark red smearing her fingers.

"Oh goddess." Thea gasped. Sending out another soothing wave of energy, she reached her hand out. "Come with us. We can help you. We won't hurt you, I promise."

The girl frowned, staring up at Quinn and Jez with a look of accusation and suspicion. It was almost as if she knew that the two of them were different. "What's your name?" Thea asked.

She spoke for the first time, "Mica." Her voice was quiet, raspy from crying for however long it was that she had been in the basement.

"Mica." Quinn spoke, kneeling down next to Thea. "I promise you, what ever happened to your mother, we will help fix it. We will do everything in our power to make sure the people who hurt her will be brought to justice. We'll help you."

Mica's mahogany eyes flashed almost red. "They didn't hurt her." Jez, who was standing slightly apart from the young girl, frowned. This was a rather strange case indeed. She could feel, even though empathy was not a vampire's ability, Mica's strength. Yes, the girl was scared and hurt, but she was also strong and brave. "They killed her."

Thea nearly burst into tears. Her own voice became soft and almost husky with sorrow. "Mica, I swear to you, I will personally take care of you. I promise that nothing like this will ever happen to you or anyone you love ever again."

"There's no one else." Mica's young, but wise words echoed in the dark basement. Thea, Quinn and Jez all shared looks. The three of them, who had not been rather close through their entire time with Circle Daybreak, now had a bond. Their eyes held a silent pact to protect this young girl, no matter what the case. No matter what the danger.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys. Just continuing with the second chapter. Thanks to heavenzdevil911 for reviewing. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Oh, and I forgot to add a disclaimer in my first chapter, but you all know that LJ Smith owns basically everything to do with the Night World. Although a couple of the characters are mine, as is this story line.**

Chapter 2 – Circle Daybreak

**Las Vegas - 2007**

"Mica!" Hannah Descouedres called out from the bottom of the beautiful mahogany staircase of the famous mansion of Thierry.

"I'm telling you, that girl isn't gonna get down here until you put some more growl into your wake up calls." Keller purred, stretching her long legs along the dining chair across from her as she read through the latest mission report.

Rashel shared a mischievous look with Keller before going over to the bottom of the staircase, standing firmly beside Hannah. "Mica Brigit Everet, I swear if you aren't down here in five minutes, dressed and ready for school, I'm gonna have Keller training you for the next three months!"

Hannah winced as Rashel's wake up call broke through the early morning silence, but her cool grey eyes lit up in a smile as she heard subtle footsteps upstairs.

"What's with the yelling?" A tall lanky boy with dishevelled ash blonde hair trudged down stairs.

"Ash! How fantastic to see your ever changing eyes open this early in the morning." Poppy North sang as she pranced past him in a dressing robe, taking special care to speak as loudly as politely possible in his ear.

Wincing openly, Ash ambled into the kitchen, away from the noise the girls made in the dining room.

"Just one question, Rashel," a young female voice spoke from the doorway. A short teenage girl stood there, her long silky black hair pulled back from her beautifully creamy porcelain face. Her small, slender body stood in a defiant stance and her rich mahogany eyes narrowed at the vampire hunter. "Why would you threaten such a naïve young innocent as myself with such treachery as three months of hard training with Ms Raksha Keller?" The young girl's face fell into a false innocence.

"Good morning, Mica." Hannah greeted her foster daughter with a plate of hot breakfast. Mica's deep eyes suddenly brightened at the sight of food, taking the plate immediately and sitting down across from Keller. Pulling back the chair that Keller's long legs had been propped up on, Mica had disturbed the shapeshifter who appeared annoyed that she had been disrupted.

Mica just smiled at Keller. "Thank you, Hannah." Even though Keller was glaring at the young girl, Mica did not appear to notice. It was how the girl acted all the time. There were many personalities in Thierry's mansion, ones that were much tougher and colder than others, but Mica had a way to break through all of them.

"Morgead Blackthorn!" A sharp female voice called out from the staircase. "If you so much as touch that dagger, I promise you, your hands will not be touching _anything_ for the next three days!"

"Oh please, _Jezebel_,that is the weakest threat I've ever heard." Morgead rushed past the dining room, vaguely nodding a good morning to the other occupants before heading towards the basement.

"Morgead!" Jezebel Redfern shrieked, following him down into the weapon storage area that Thierry had built into the basement.

"What's so special about a dagger?" Mica asked, wrinkling her nose as Hannah placed a cup of herbal tea in front of her.

"It's good for you." Hannah said gently, knowing that Mica hated herbs of all kinds.

"It's disgusting." Mica said, pushing the mug towards Ash. "What's wrong with coffee?"

"Coffee is full of caffeine and sugar. Two things that will deteriorate your body and stain your teeth in the process." Keller said absently as she flipped through the report.

"Ew, horehound and hyssop." Ash grimaced as the scented steam of the tea cup wafted towards his sensitive vampire sense of smell.

"What is wrong with you people?" Rashel rolled her cat-like green eyes. "Horehound strengthens you and hyssop cleanses your body. This is the prime of all witch concoctions."

"Speaking of witches," Poppy sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal. "Have you guys seen Thea lately?"

"No," Mica frowned immediately. Thea was probably the person she was closest to in all of Circle Daybreak. "Is she okay?"

"Don't worry, Mica, dear." Hannah immediately soothed. "Thea should still be at college for the next week or so. She'll be back soon, though." Mica immediately relaxed, smiling.

"Come on, kiddo," Jez returned from the basement with a particularly intricate and wicked looking dagger in her hands. Morgead followed her sullenly, joining Ash in the kitchen. "Time for school."

"But we've got fifteen minutes." Mica whined, although standing up and taking her plate into the kitchen.

"Ok, your choice. You can be late and break that clean record of yours, or Ash could drive you." Jez suggested, a cheeky glint in her eyes that were more blue than silver that morning.

Mica's already porcelain skin paled even further. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." It wasn't that Ash was a bad driver, but he drove like…well, much like a vampire would drive a car. He drove fast and he drove dangerously. It was fine for him to drive like he didn't care for his safety or that of his passengers, for he would survive a car crash, but Mica's skin wasn't as thick.

"So, what're you up to this afternoon?" Jez asked as she started the engine of _Morgead's_ new car with a mischievous smile.

Biting back her own smile, Mica fastened her seatbelt. "Going around to Greg's place."

A cheeky smile crossed Jez's beautiful face. "You know, Ash and Quinn and James don't much like your boyfriend."

"I know." Mica rolled her eyes. The three male vampires were incredibly and insanely protective of her. Probably because she was younger than they were, and that she was human. "But its not like they have control over me." Jez grinned proudly at Mica's defiance. Just one of the reasons why she loved the girl so dearly.

"How are things with dear Gregory?" Jez queried as she came to a stop at a red light.

"Things are pretty good." Mica gave a small smile. She lied. Things weren't going good. She was very much in love with the human boy, but their relationship was nowhere near as strong as it had once been. Fortunately Mica pulled the lie off and Jez was oblivious to the false smile. It would have been different if she'd told Morgead. He could've spotted the lie a mile away before it was even spoken.

"Great." Jez smiled as she pulled her – Morgead' – car to a stop in front of the school.

"Thanks, Jezebel." Mica gave her an sweet smile when she saw Jez narrow her now very silver eyes at her, a normal reaction when anybody called her by her full name. She quickly escaped, getting out of the car and walking around to the pathway. "Oh," Mica added, bending down to Jez's level with a twinkle in her deep mahogany eyes, "good luck with explaining to Morgead about nicking his car." With that, Mica winked at her and left for her first period class.

Her first class was English Lit, a class studying poetry. Surprisingly, Mica loved poetry. While the rest of the class moaned and groaned about having to read verses of rhymes out loud, Mica embraced it. Poetry was art, and she loved all art.

Taking her usual seat next to Greg, who smiled warmly at her Mica felt the usual sensation of warmth and love that she always did when she saw her love. Smiling back, Mica tried to push away the feeling of regret when a stranger walked into the classroom. A new guy, she supposed. Although not just any new guy. He was tall, on the skinny side though, a small, strong frame. He had blonde hair and striking green eyes. Those eyes, they seemed so familiar.

"Mica?" Greg sounded agitated, as if it wasn't the first time that he had called for her.

She turned back around. "Yeah? Sorry, I'm a little tired."

Greg sighed, his gaze moving from her to the new guy. "Are you okay?"

She smiled. "Of course I'm okay. Why, what's wrong?"

He paused for a moment. His dark eyes darted to the new guy, who took a seat in front of Mica.

"Um…about this afternoon…" Greg began. Mica sighed. He was cancelling on her again. Emotions rolled in her, bursting to be released and heard. Taking in a deep breath, she cut him off.

"Look, I get that sometimes people just don't click anymore after they've 'clicked' for a year and a half.." Mica stopped. Her breath was caught in her throat. She knew they weren't working out. And that she needed to end it before he did, or the hurt would be much worse. But she couldn't do it. She loved him too much. Taking in a wavering breath, Mica began again. "Greg.."

"Okay class!" their teacher entered the room with a stack of messy papers in her hands. "Take a seat, let's begin." Mica shut her eyes, took in a breath and turned to the front of the class.

Mica's second period class was biology, a subject that Greg didn't take. Happy to have a break from the pressure of their relationship, she moved quickly to the bio lab, surprised to see the new guy already standing outside the classroom.

"Hi," he greeted her. They were alone in the corridor, all the other students were still dawdling to their lockers.

"Hi," Mica smiled. "I'm Mica Everet."

"Drake Blackthorn." Mica froze. Why was that name so familiar? "So what are we doing in biology?"

"Um…genetics." Mica responded automatically. She looked up at him. Why did he seem so familiar? Those gem green eyes that shone different shades of emerald. And that name. Blackthorn….Blackthorn…

"So you're new around here?" Mica queried, feeling insanely embarrassed at her idiotic observation.

"Yeah." Drake nodded. "I moved here yesterday actually."

"Where from?" The boy paused. His eyes, for just a split second, shone a steely pale green. He looked – as much as Mica hated using clichés, even in her thoughts – like a deer caught in the headlights. But when the split second passed, Drake seemed to have recovered, his eyes returning to their usual cool emerald colour.

"Australia."

"Really? You don't have much of an accent." Mica spoke innocently and softly. She wasn't really there. Her mind was still running through every single piece of information that she'd overheard from Thierry and his _special_ meetings. But she was coming up blank. Blackthorn…Blackthorn…

"Oh," Drake's deep green eyes darted down to the floor and back to Mica. "I wasn't there for long. My family and I have been moving around a lot since I was ten." Mica just nodded. Something didn't add up. But before she could investigate any further, the teacher opened the classroom door and soon class began.

"I thought you were going to _Greg's_ house this afternoon." Ash spoke the human boy's name so bitterly that Mica felt shivers run down her spine.

Instead of responding, Mica just gazed up at him from her biology textbook. Her rich mahogany eyes solemn and hurting. Immediately Ash's gaze softened. She knew what he was seeing and feeling. A small, young girl who held the world's hurt and pain in her large brown eyes that seemed as if they were tinted with the slightest red. And he was sympathizing more than she had seen any vampire do so, for any human.

"He cancelled on you again." He spat in a very bitter brotherly sort of way. Mica shut her eyes and nodded, pressing her lips together to try to achieve some sort of control over herself.

"It's fine." Mica shrugged, shutting her textbook. As much as she attempted to suppress it, Ash was a vampire and he could tell that Mica was upset. Sighing, Mica stood up from the comfortable lounge seat and headed towards the staircase.

"Mica," Ash's voice was filled to the brim of what seemed to be hope and desperation. Mica could see in his eyes that he hated seeing her upset and that he was grasping for a way to cheer her up. "A few of us are going for some research at the Black Iris."

"Okay," Mica said slowly. _Was he trying to rub it in my face?_ All of the Daybreakers knew that Mica had desperately wanted to join in their missions and help out and go do undercover work like they did all the time. But Hannah and, especially, Thierry banned it. She was just too young.

"Well," Ash could see the anger flash in Mica's gaze. "You see, Thierry is out of town and Hannah's going to visit her mum in Montana for the weekend." Mica was catching his drift. "And if you were to come along, well if you don't say anything, I won't either."

Mica jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "Oh, yes!!! Yes please." Ash grinned at her as she ran to him and leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Ash?" A female voice spoke softly from the hallway. Mica released Ash and turned around to see a slender woman in her mid twenties with dark brown hair and beautiful blue eyes.

"Mary Lynette!" Mica rushed over to hug Ash's soulmate, happiness and joy filling her and pushing the memory of Greg completely from her mind. "Oh my Goddess! I can't believe you're here. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, kiddo." Mary Lynette smiled down at the smaller, younger girl. Her bright blue eyes travelled to Ash and Mica recognised the signs.

"Um, I'm gonna go upstairs and get changed." Mica said quickly, leaving the couple alone.

"Hi," Ash said softly, smiling at his soulmate, kissing her softly.

"You can't take Mica to the Black Iris. She will be eaten alive. Literally."

"Mare, I know. But I will be there to protect her every second of the way. And I'm sure Morgead and Jez will be there too. We wouldn't let anyone even touch her." Ash pleaded. "You should have seen her. She looked so depressed."

"Ash…" Mary Lynette closed her eyes. She had just gone for a very long car drive and she felt exhausted. "Thierry will be furious."

"I know he will." Ash nodded. "But it will be worth it. Mica needs this." But Mary Lynette was shaking her head.

"I can't let you take her there. She could get hurt. She could be killed."

Anger flashed in Ash's eyes. "I wouldn't let that happen. You know that I love her like she's one of my sisters. She'll be perfectly safe."

"She'd be even safer here at home." Mary Lynette muttered.

"Hey guys." Jez stepped into the lounge room carrying a long wooden staff with a sharp tapered end. "Mary Lynette." She added warmly, smiling at the human girl.

"Hi Jez."

"Jez, we're going to the Iris tonight." Ash announced. "Thierry left me a memo about getting some research work done while he's away."

"Okay, perfect." Jez smiled wildly. "Who's coming with us?"

"Anyone who's up for it. As long as there are at least four of us." Ash supplied as Jez nodded, taking in the information. "Plus Mica." Jez's eyes became a liquid silver.

"Why?"

"Because she's depressed." Ash said simply. "We need to cheer her up and this is the only way I know how." Taking in a breath, Jez seemed to consider it for a second before nodding.

In the end, the research team turned out to be Ash, Jez, Morgead and Poppy. They decided not to inform Keller or Quinn, who would have definitely have told Thierry and would've gotten them all in trouble.

"Okay, ready." Mica bounded down the stairs dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a black lace corset. She had seen the other girls dress up in their 'undercover' clothes and she knew that she had to blend into the crowd.

While Ash did not seem completely thrilled with Mica wearing such a revealing outfit at all, not to mention, outside the house, he knew it would be better off than making her change into some more appropriate for a seventeen year old but less appropriate for the Black Iris.

The four vampires were armed with various protective and offensive weapons. Jez gave Mica a wooden blade and a small silver pocket knife just in case. Mica felt slightly nervous but extremely excited.

Stepping out of the sleek black car, Mica gazed at the entrance of the Black Iris. As inconspicuous as it was, she could hear the muffled music from outside and her heat beat faster as Ash led her inside.

**So that's it. Next chapter will be about Mica's little adventure at the club and a couple of added twist that you might have already guessed. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, keep reading and reviewing. Dreaming June.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks heavenzdevil911, you rule. I don't own any of the Night World ideas, concepts or characters, etc, nor am I making profit, etc etc. Hope you guys enjoy this one. P.S. It's short for a reason.**

Chapter 3

The inside of the club was dark and cold. Music was playing, but it wasn't normal music. It was empty music. Sad, depressing and empty. Still, Mica felt exhilarated as she walked past the dance floor.

"Stick with Jez." Ash whispered between his teeth. "Don't do anything to attract too much attention." Mica gave a slight nod as Ash and Poppy walked towards the bar and sniff out some vampires.

"Come." Jez motioned for Mica to stop staring at their friends. Mica could feel the eyes of many Night Worldly creatures staring at her. Maybe because she was food. Maybe because they thought she was beautiful. Maybe because she had walked in with a couple of Redferns.

What ever the reason, Mica felt naked beneath their gazes. She knew that some of them could probably read her thoughts, so kept her eyes trained to the floor in front of her and tried to think as little as possible.

Walking past a circle of young wicked looking witches, Mica shivered. Four pairs of brightly coloured eyes gawked at her. Gazes of bright violet, moonlight silver, golden amber and a mixture that reminded Mica of peacock ore, they all locked down on her. Mica stared back, raising an eyebrow and giving them a superior look. All four witches turned back and whispered among themselves.

Mica continued to follow Jez and Morgead towards a small booth. Mica felt so young and defenceless in the club. She knew that she had always wanted to come but she never realised that the atmosphere was this intense. Jez and Morgead were just that too far away from her when it happened. They didn't notice.

"Hey baby, come dance." A pair of strong hands grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away from Jez and Morgead. Panic thrummed in her chest as she was helplessly dragged into the crowd.

"Hey!" She cried out, but she could barely hear herself above the din of the dancers. She turned around to see a boy about eighteen with black eyes and pale skin. A vampire. He looked vicious; his hands like iron clamping her close to his cold body. A made vampire.

"What are you doing here, gorgeous?" The vampire leaned in close, whispering into her ear. Fear erupted in her heart as she felt his breathe on her throat.

"Killian!" A sharp voice called out and the vampire holding Mica down looked up, although he kept his grasp strong. Mica looked up but there were too many bodies in the way, she couldn't pick out who had called out.

"Blackthorn!" _Killian_ responded as a tall boy approached them. Mica gaped when she saw him. It was Drake. Drake Blackthorn. _Oh Goddess_. His eyes – that were green, even though it was too dark to tell – dropped to Mica. But he kept his gaze level, still.

"Killian, there's a girl at the bar asking about you." Drake spoke loudly over the music. Without missing a beat, Killian dropped Mica and strutted towards the bar. Mica fell to the floor. Luckily the crowd had moved away from the chatter and no one trampled on her. "Are you okay?" Drake reached down to help her up. But as soon as his hand touched her bare arm, a sharp electric tingle jolted through her arm and towards her core. Gasping, she looked up at Drake and saw that he had felt it too.

Frowning in confusion, he helped her up. "What was that?" Mica demanded over the music. He just shook his head.

"Mica!" Morgead rushed to her. He immediately pulled her away, handing her to Jez and glaring at Drake. "Are you okay, Mica?" Mica nodded mutely. Jez moved towards Drake, her eyes silver and narrowed. But Morgead stopped her.

"I didn't do anything." Drake said. Jez bared her elongated teeth. Those delicate, translucent long canines that shone a milky pearl in the dark club.

"Jez, he didn't do anything." Mica said. "I'm fine."

"You aren't fine. You're bruised!" Morgead said, examining her arms.

Mica whipped her arms away from him, angry that he thought that she needed to be saved from every single thing. "Morgead Bla-" Mica froze as the word nearly slipped from her lips. _Blackthorn_. Her eyes went straight to Drake. Drake Blackthorn. _Oh the Goddess incarnated_.

"Mica?" Ash rushed to her side, followed closely by Poppy. His amber eyes darted from Mica, to Jez, to Morgead and then planted themselves on Drake, a look of anger piercing into the younger boy. Everyone stared from Mica to this strange vampire boy, and they seemed to wait for the next step.

"Drake." Mica moved for him but he ran for it. There was no way to catch him. He was fast, and the crowd was relentless.

"What was that?" Poppy asked shrilly. The four vampires who had stared after the boy who had run off turned the gazes all to Mica, waiting for an answer.

"I – I don't know." Mica mumbled, shaking her head. They couldn't hear her over the music, but they all knew what she was saying.

"Let's go home." Jez said.

"I can't believe you!" Thierry's voice all but screamed. He stood in his office, five other people standing in front of him. "You know the rules. No untrained agents on the field."

Mica bit her lip and shrunk back as far as she could without actually stepping back. When they had gotten home they found Thierry waiting for them in the lounge room. It seems that he must have gotten home early.

"Ash, you know very well how dangerous that club is for young girls. Especially humans." Thierry spoke again after a short pause. But this time his voice was quiet and cold. "Mica could have been hurt. Someone may have recognized her and tracked her down. For all you know there could be someone out there tracking her now and hoping to get a free meal. It's not even that she _could _have been hurt, it's that she _did _get hurt."

"Thierry, I'm fine." Mica protested. "Please don't blame the others. I really wanted to go. I needed to get out for a little."

"I know that you've always wanted to go, Mica," Thierry turned his dark gaze to her. "But they let you. What's more is that Ash suggested it."

He opened his mouth to continue, but Jez stopped him. "Thierry, wait. Mica has school tomorrow. It's past midnight, I think she needs some sleep." Thierry's hard gaze softened as he looked around to Mica. He nodded, recognising her fatigue immediately.

"Goodnight Thierry." Mica spoke softly, her eyes sweeping over the others. They didn't look scared of Thierry, they were just worried about her and she could tell that they were itching to track down Drake. "'Night guys."

"Goodnight, Mica." She left the room and shut the door behind her. So many thoughts were running through her mind. _Blackthorn…Drake Blackthorn – Morgead Blackthorn… Black Iris…_ She could almost still feel the electric sensation that had coursed through her when he touched her arm. She didn't know what it was but she knew that she would find out. And if the answer wasn't coming her way soon, she would chase it down.

For the entirety of her English Lit class, Mica had glued her eyes to the classroom door. Drake hadn't attended class and Mica kept on hoping that he was simply late.

"Mica, I'm so sorry about yesterday…" She could vaguely hear Greg addressing her but she barely registered.

"Huh?" Mica turned to him with raised eyebrows. Greg frowned at her.

"Are you okay?"

Mica blinked. She nodded. She hadn't even thought about Greg all night or morning and she barely noticed him. All she could think about was last night and Drake. Where was he?

He wasn't in biology and she spent most of recess searching for him. When the school day was over, Mica felt disappointment begin to cloud her skies. She needed to figure this out.

As she alighted the school bus and made her way up the hill to Thierry's mansion, Mica frowned as she saw Quinn's small black car parked in the driveway. Quinn only drove that car when he was on a mission, he never used it for recreation. This made Mica hurry, curiosity getting the better of her.

When she got the front door she was out of breath. As she dug through her satchel bag for her key, the door opened abruptly, making her jump, startled. A small whimper escaped from her throat and her heart pumped from the fright. The jump made her drop her bag, scattering pens, coins and notebooks all down the threshold stairs.

"I'm so sorry." A male voice said, moving out of the doorway and helping her pick up her things.

"Thanks." She said as he handed her a fistful of pens and quarters. Taking them and dropping them in her bag, she looked up. Drake Blackthorn. "Oh." He blinked. "Uh, hi."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I just felt inspired to continue writing, it's a lot of fun. Um…this chapter was going to be longer but I cut it short because it ended with a better cliff-hanger than the original length. Oh, LJ Smith owns Night World and its characters, etc. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, don't forget to review.**

Chapter 4 – Questions without answers

"Mickey!" Ash called out. Mica's pale cheeks warmed to a pink as she winced at Ash's pet name for her. He hadn't used it in months and she'd hoped to the Goddess that he had forgotten it. Of course he hadn't. Vampire…photographic memory.

"Mickey?" Drake looked at her with a cheeky grin. Mica just shook her head, slightly flustered with Ash and Drake at the same time.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" Mica turned on her heel to face him. "Shouldn't you be out with Mary Lynette?"

"We thought we would have a quiet afternoon in." Ash said, a cheeky smirk creeping to his lips. Mary Lynette stalked up behind him and slapped him in the arm. Mica smiled.

"Um…" Drake pressed his lips together. Mica glanced at him, he didn't look very comfortable.

"So, why is Quinn's car here?" Mica queried as the four of them moved into the lounge room.

"Because I dropped by to visit Rashel." Quinn entered the lounge room, extremely cool, calm and collected. Mica broke into a grin.

"Hey!" Mica ran to him and hugged him tightly before taking a seat on the couch. He had been on a scoping mission lately and hadn't been seen around the house in a few days.

"I also had to deliver some new…discoveries for Thierry." Quinn said, glancing at Drake. Mica frowned. She still didn't know how and why Drake was in the house. She looked up into the hallway and noticed a couple of luggage bags. Another frown. Turning back to look from Quinn to Drake, she understood. _Oh_.

"He's staying?" Ash raised his eyebrows, turning to Quinn, who nodded. A flash of anger hit his bright green eyes. A look that made Mica shiver. Then, through clenched teeth, Ash addressed Quinn, "Can I please have a word with you?"

"Um, Drake, come. I'll show you to a room." Mica said immediately, recognising the look in Ash's eyes and did not want to be in the same room as the angry vampire when he was in state such as this.

"Wait!" Ash growled.

"Ash." Thierry entered the room, allowing Mica and Drake to escape to the second floor. Mica could hear Thierry, Quinn and Ash speaking in muffled voices as she led Drake up to the second floor.

"Here, this one's empty." Mica opened the door to a guest room that was in the same hallway as many of the other occupants, including herself.

"Thank you." Drake smiled. Taking a long look at him while he unpacked, she realized that he had faint scars and healed bruises along his arms and on his cheeks.

"You weren't in school today." Mica spoke after a long silence.

"Mmm."

Mica raised her eyebrows. "Where did you go last night?"

"I needed to feed."

Mica froze, her heart stopping and then thundering. Vampire. Of course. He was a lamia. "Oh."

"I'm sorry." He stopped with his clothes and turned to her, moving closer to her.

"What for?" Mica asked, her eyes wide, suddenly feeling very small.

"For last night. For what happened with Killian. For running off." He took a step closer.

"I still don't understand what happened." Mica pressed her lips together, taking a step back.

"Me neither." Drake answered in a low, husky voice, taking another long stride towards her and closing the gap between them. "But ever since that moment I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." Her heart stopped and her breath was caught in her throat. Mica took another step back and inhaled sharply when she felt her back hitting the cold wall behind her.

"I've never felt like this before in my life." Drake continued, enclosing the space between them. Mica automatically raised her hands to create some sort of barrier between the two of them, but her palms pressed against his warm chest because he was so close and she couldn't bring herself to lower her hands.

"Drake…" She trailed off. He moved his hands up and placed them over her fingers. Then it happened again. As soon as his palms touched her fingers a warm buzzing energy washed over them and it swam through her entire body.

She raised her chin and gazed into his eyes. A sea of green flowed before her, a bright, impossibly emerald green that shone varied depths of jade.

He moved first, leaning in closer for a kiss. He was so close, she could feel his breathe against her cheek and she could literally feel his warmth seeping into her. All the while gazing into his soulfully green eyes.

"Drake, I…" She could barely string two words together. He was so close. And so warm. There was a loud bump and the door opened. Mica felt herself involuntarily jerked herself back and bumped her shoulder against the wall. Drake took a quick step back as Thierry and Quinn entered the room.

"Mica." Thierry nodded his head at her, a small and amused smile crossing his lips. Quinn looked from Mica to Drake with a wary look.

"Thierry, Quinn." Mica smiled shyly.

"Mica, would you mind allowing us speak to Drake for just a moment?" Thierry asked in comedic politeness. Mica nodded quickly, her eyes glancing from Thierry, to Quinn and finally gazing for a beat longer at Drake, before exiting quickly. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she bumped into Ash, who was wearing a not-so-happy-camper look on his face.

"What's going on?" Mica frowned as the two moved up to the third floor and into the mansion's library.

"We aren't exactly sure who this guy is, but we know that he's a lamia, meaning there is some respect expected." Ash grumbled, closing the door behind them. Now they were in the library. Not Thierry and Hannah's personal library, that was a private place for important documents seen only on a need-to-know basis. This library was amazing. Mica loved it. Not only did it have ancient texts describing the entire history of the Night World, but it also had human books too. This was her sanctuary.

"But why is he here now?" Mica asked.

"Quinn said that he found the boy unconscious in an alleyway." Ash reported, sitting down in front of the fire place and began placing firewood into the cold pit. "He's a Daybreaker now, sort of."

"Daybreaker? Sort of?" Mica raised an eyebrow.

"Well, like you are. You are part of Circle Daybreak, but you aren't a field agent like the rest of us or even a desk officer." Ash said simply. "Granted all we have to do is run the boy through some basic training and he'll be qualified for the field."

"Drake." Mica mumbled automatically as she climbed up the bookshelf step ladder to pull out a book about lamia blood lines from the top shelf.

"Eh?" Ash glanced up at her.

"The _boy_." Mica said simply. "His name is Drake." Ash just looked at her, frowning. She knew what he was thinking, that she had gotten too close to the boy already. That he might not have been as innocent as he seemed. But she ignored Ash's look, jumping down the last four steps and going over to the huge oak desk to peruse the book.

"_Lamia Bloodlines Through Time_?" Ash raised his eyebrows when he caught a glance at the cover of her book. Mica glanced up for just a second, giving him a look that clearly told him to back off. He took a step back. Even though she was only a human and he was a vampire, she knew his weaknesses and could very well bring both emotional and physical pain to him.

"So…looking for anyone in particular?" Ash queried innocently, sitting down, lazily draped in an armchair.

"Just doing some background reading." Mica said softly, turning the page and finding the chapter she was looking for. _Blackthorn Genealogy_. The now warm library was filled with silence as her rich eyes that shone with a maroon sheen from the roaring fire quickly skimmed the family tree for the Drake Blackthorn. Unfortunately the last generation to be recorded was born in the early nineteenth century, not even Morgead was listed.

Frowning, Mica snapped the book shut and went over to the step ladder to replace it in its place on the top shelf.

"Oh, did you know that Thea and Eric are coming back tomorrow?" Ash said, not getting up from his slouch in the comfortable chair.

"Really?" Mica brightened immediately. "Fantastic, I haven't seen them for so long."

"I knew that would cheer you up." Ash smiled.

"You thought I was upset?" Mica raised her eyebrows, jumping from the very top of the step ladder and landing on her feet perfectly. She had been training a little bit with Rashel lately, just to prepare her for the real stuff when Thierry and Hannah let her go on field missions. Also, just in case she got attacked when she was out alone. Ash looked impressed when he saw her perfect landing.

"Uh, yeah, well the whole thing with Greg yesterday." Ash continued.

"Oh." To be honest, Mica hadn't thought about Greg since yesterday during class. Ever since she'd met Drake…well, all she could think about was him. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Ash turned to her, his eyes a serious slate grey.

"Well…you know how you and Mary Lynette are soulmates?" Mica said, cringing. Ash rolled his eyes and nodded. "How did you know that you were soulmates?"

"You mean when we first met?" Ash asked. Mica nodded. "Well when we first met…I knew immediately. There was this…connection."

"Connection?"

"Well…its difficult to explain." Ash shrugged. "It's like when you're in love. You can't explain it, you just know it."

"So, when you meet your soulmate, you just, sort of, know it?" Mica asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Ash shrugged again. Then he frowned, narrowing his eyes that were lightening to a pale, silvery grey. "Why?"

"Oh." Mica shrugged, putting on a smile. "I was just curious. I should probably go. I've got an essay to start." Ash watched her as she left the room, narrowing his silver eyes at her.

Dinner could only be described with one word that night. Awkward. Mica sat quietly, eating her dinner with her dark eyes glued to her plate. She did not want to look up and meet _anyone's_ gaze. Not Ash, or Quinn, or Drake. It was rare that the entire household would be home to have a meal together. Probably once or twice a month. But when a substantial amount of people were home, they would eat formally, in the dining room. Usually, the younger ones would just order pizza or Chinese or something.

"So, Mica, how is school going?" Thierry asked as he took a sip of wine. The vampires ate human food as a formality, although Mica knew that the cook traced blood into their food to add some sort of sustenance.

"It's good." Mica said, nodding even though she was looking at her chicken.

"Yeah, how's that essay going?" Ash mused. Mica did glanced up this time. He had a cheeky glint in his eye. "What are you writing about?" Mica smiled this time.

"An analytical exposition about the ancient Athenian democracy and how it changed because of an archon named Solon. It's really quite fascinating." Mica smiled sweetly at Ash. He knew that she had just used the essay writing as an excuse to avoid an awkward situation before, but she really was writing an essay. "You see Solon developed what used to be a very biased and unfair situation for the common class and helped them out a little. He loosened the class structure and turned them from a division by birth to a division by wealth. It allowed citizens to climb the class system through trade."

Ash blinked.

"I remember that." Thierry said, glancing at Hannah who smiled. "Hannah was the daughter of a rich tradesman, she was betrothed to a complete pig."

"Literally?" Ash's clear green eyes lit up in laughter. "Man, you guys are old, back to when the shapeshifters ruled." Mary Lynette rolled her eyes, swatting him sharply. Mica grinned.

"Actually, I remember that." Hannah bit her lip thoughtfully, her cool grey eyes gazing before her, not focusing on anything in particular. "That was one of the times we found each other." The two gazed at one another. Thierry lifted Hannah's hand to his lips and kissed her gently.

Their sweet and romantic moment was disrupted by a strange noise Ash made. Somewhere between a snort and a gag of disgust. The noise earned him another slap from Mary Lynette. Mica rolled her eyes.

When dinner was finished everyone went their separate ways. Either to work or play or sleep. Most of the vampire couples left for the Black Iris to continue their research.

Just as Mica, Drake, Hannah and Mary Lynette were getting settled in the lounge room with a movie on the television, the doorbell rang. Sighing, Mica stood up, turned the light on and went to see who it was. Unbeknownst to her, Drake followed her to the foyer.

Smiling casually at the bodyguard standing by the hallway, Mica opened the door to find Greg standing there. He looked from Mica to something above her shoulder. Mica ignored that strange look that crossed his face, thinking that maybe he had come here to break up with her.

"Greg. Hi." Mica greeted without so much as a smile.

"Hi Mica," he said softly. "Drake." He added firmly, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Mica frowned and turned to see Drake standing just ten inches from her. Drake returned Greg's acknowledgement with a slight nod of his head.

"What's he doing here?" Greg asked immediately. Mica frowned.

"He lives here." She answered simply. A territorial glaze formed in Greg's eyes. "Greg, what are you doing here?"

"What, I can't visit my girlfriend?" Greg shot back. Mica shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. But can we talk for a little bit? Alone." Mica opened her eyes, pressed her lips together and nodded. She owed him that at least. She moved outside, giving Drake a look of apology and walked Greg towards a small bench placed near some rose bushes.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Hi guys. Thank you so much to heavenzdevil911 for reviewing. Your reviews really inspire me to continue writing this. Anyone else who is reading this (if there is any, that is) please please please review (please!!). Even if you think I'm writing some really bad rubbish, I would love to hear from you. I'd love to hear if you hate Greg or love Drake (or even hate Drake), or if you would really love to kill Ash (or kick him in the shins). If I'm making some really bad spelling or grammar mistakes, yell at me.

I don't own the Night World or its concepts or its characters. Anyways, enjoy and hopefully, maybe, you guys will review (please!).

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Chapter 5 - The Soulmate Principle

"Is everything okay?" Mica asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She loved him, but he didn't love her back. And there was also something strange going on with Drake that she wasn't so sure about.

"Well…no." Greg took in a deep breath. Mica looked up at him. He was quite good looking, not in a Night Worldly sort of way, but he was very good looking for a human. "I just…I realised that we haven't been spending much time together lately and I've missed you."

Mica's heart skipped a beat. "You have?"

"Yeah." Greg nodded, looking almost shy. "It's just that I've been so busy lately with school and everything…and you've seemed a little distant lately. Especially these past couple of days. Are you okay?" Mica was looking worriedly around the grounds. She had heard a very slight sound but it was enough to alert her. She shouldn't have been worried, there were always guards stationed around the property at all hours of the day and night.

"Of course." Mica turned back to her boyfriend. "It's just that, well I thought you…didn't feel the way you used to." Greg looked at her. The gaze he gave her was a look of …guilt. Of shame. He didn't feel the same way he used to. It was true. He didn't love her.

"I'm trying." Greg's voice sounded like a plead. "I'm trying so hard. But it feels like we're growing apart. And I don't want that." Mica felt her eyes well up. Because she was about to do something her mind ordered her to do, but her heart begged her to stop before it was too late.

"Greg…" Mica inhaled deeply, trying to control her breathing, "Gregory, sometimes people do grow apart and there's nothing you can do about it. Sometimes it is just easier and better to leave things alone. Maybe we just need a break. Maybe we need to stop seeing each other all together. All I know is that….is that you're right. We are growing apart and I really think we need to stop this."

Greg gazed at her, shocked. "Stop what?"

Mica shut her eyes and swallowed. When she opened them again, Greg had moved closer to her. "Stop seeing each other. Stop this relationship."

"Mica, no." he said, almost moaning. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry for everything I've done to you. But you are the most amazing person I know. I can't lose you." Mica looked at him, studying him as he spoke. His voice projected all the emotions that his words suggested, but his eyes – they were a different story. His dark eyes told her that he didn't really _feel_ it. He was just saying it. She didn't know why, though. Why would he lie about something like this? To manipulate her? To humiliate her?

"You lost me a long time ago." Mica said, feeling a cold icy film of emotion sweep over her. She stood up and turned towards the house.

"Mica, stop." Greg rushed to get in front of her, impeding her walk up to the mansion. "I said I was sorry. Please, please don't do this."

"Why would you want to be with someone you don't even love?" Mica asked.

"But I do." Greg said with so much intensity that she almost believed him. "I do love you." There was a heartbeat of silence. That heartbeat filled the air with soundless opportunities. Mica gazed up into his dark eyes. He did love her. A warmth rushed from her core and filled her body with hope.

He leaned in closer and they kissed. But as soon as their lips met, Mica was filled with a deep and dark shame. This kiss…it felt wrong. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. Something inside her told her that she shouldn't be kissing this boy. And then another thought hit her. Another boy. Drake.

Immediately Mica pulled away. Greg frowned as she flustered around him and attempted towards the house. "Greg, I'm sorry, but I can't do this. It isn't right."

"What are you talking about?" Greg looked completely confused.

"I thought I loved you." Mica felt tears slipping down her pale cheeks. "I really thought I did, but I don't. Deep down, where it all counts, I don't love you. And I know that you don't love me."

Suddenly Greg's gaze hardened. "Is this about Blackthorn?" Mica shut her eyes, tears falling down her face and joining underneath her chin. Greg's expression turned from one of confusion, to understanding, but now it was one of rage. "I am going to kill him."

"Greg, I'm sorry." Mica sobbed.

"Miss Everet!" One of the vampire guards rushed to the seen. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, Holt, I'm fine." Mica wiped her face with her hands. "I just need to go back inside."

"Mica, no." Greg stepped forward but Holt stopped him.

"Greg just go." Mica turned back to him for a moment. "We'll talk on Monday." Greg looked completely and utterly defeated. He left, glaring at Holt for another moment and muttering under his breath.

"Thanks, Holt." Mica smiled appreciatively to the vampire.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, thank you." Mica nodded. "I just need to sort this out properly. Goodnight Holt."

"Goodnight Miss Everet." When Mica returned to the house, she was greeted immediately by Drake.

"Are you okay?" His voice was filled with worry and his green eyes were a sad, dark forest green.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mica tried to smile. But she wasn't fine. And the weight of emotion crushed down on her as her smile melted away and she burst into tears. She sobbed and sobbed, feel the dread and regret and heartbreak flowing through her. She felt Drake step closer to her and pull her into a hug, letting her head fall onto his chest. She could feel herself pouring all her anguish and hurt away as she released her tears.

"Mica, are you okay?" Hannah and Mary-Lynette stood in the hallway, both looking concerned.

"I'll be okay." Mica wiped her face again. "I think I'll just go to bed." Numbly, Mica detached herself from Drake and trudged upstairs, into her room. Once in the warm confines of her suite, Mica dropped to her bed and just let loose. She wasn't sobbing, but the tears just kept coming. She kept thinking about how Greg had been acting lately and how different he was tonight. How he didn't really mean what he was saying, how he had some kind of ulterior motive. How she kept thinking about Drake and how wonderful Drake was. She was so confused and her body couldn't take the emotional agony any longer. All the heartbreak made her depressed and when she was upset, she automatically thought about her mother.

The thought of her mother attacked her like sharp stakes slicing at her body. The screams of desperation, the moans of pain. Mica squeezed her eyes shut and took in a long, deep breath. Holding that breath, she tried to clear her mind. To let that memory exit her conscious mind and return to her subconscious.

Just as she exhaled, there was a knock at the door. Wiping her face with her sleeve, she opened the door to find Drake standing there.

"I'm sorry." He said as soon as Mica let him in and shut the door. "I know that you probably want space from everyone. But I thought that you might need a shoulder."

"A shoulder?" Mica glanced up at him. As soon as she saw him, all thoughts of Greg and that evening fled her mind. All she could feel was hope and … something else. Something deep rooted and hard wired into her mind. So deep that her conscious mind couldn't decipher it.

"A shoulder to cry on." Drake said. "What did he do?"

"Greg? Well…actually, he told me that he loves me." Mica bit her lip. Looking up at Drake, she could tell that he didn't like the sound of that. A part of her actually felt glad of that, because it meant that he cared about her. "But somehow I knew that it wasn't true. And I thought I loved him too." Drake looked like his heart was crushed. "But, when we kissed, I didn't _feel_ it."

Drake looked up at her, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"When you kiss someone you love, you're supposed to feel something. That special something that is just so right. But when I kissed him, I felt…empty. All I could think about was…well, all I could think about was you." Mica said all of this staring at the ground. She felt her heart beating fast, pulsing in her chest. She couldn't look at him in the eye.

"Mica…" Drake stepped in front of her, his body almost touching hers. A strong finger lifted her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. And then she was lost in a sea of emerald, completely oblivious to everything around her. Their lips met and as soon as they touched, the world fell away. It was nothing like a normal kiss.

She felt herself being pulled from her physical surroundings, from her comfort zone. She was no longer defined by her physical body, it was just _her_. Was it her mind? Her heart? Her soul? No, it was just her. And she opened her eyes, not her physical eyes, but _her_ eyes. And she saw Drake.

It was Drake's heart, his personal thoughts, his memories and his past. And she knew that he could see her past too. And she was scared of that. Her personal self was for her alone, not anyone else. But as she tried to pull back, Drake pushed himself forward and pulled her into his heart. She was immediately bathed in a warm and filling light.

_You're so beautiful_. Mica felt her heart jolt. It was him. He was here. She already knew it, of course, but hearing his inner voice solidified that fact. It almost made her nervous, having him so close to her.

_Drake…_ It was all she could muster. Her mind melted to a thoughtless puddle of warmth when she consciously felt Drake's lips kissing her neck. At the same time, she could feel Drake exploring her mind. He could hear all her thoughts, sense every single emotion she felt and see every memory of her painful past.

_Your mother…_ Drake's voice spoke in a horrified tone. His shock echoed in her mind, and the memories of her mother's voice flooded back into her heart. _Oh, Goddess, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to._

_No. No, it's okay._ Mica distracted herself by picking through Drake's memories. And what she saw, surprised her more than she thought it would. _An enclave. You used to live in an enclave. And … your brother, he left. He joined the Night World council and you wanted to leave. You didn't want to be like him_.

When she said it – or thought it, rather, she felt Drake draw back. He felt shame and disappointment. _But you thought you failed. You … escaped from the enclave and you … Goddess … you killed a girl._

Mica was so shocked she pulled herself abruptly from their connection. As she wrenched herself away, a sharp pain attacked her chest. And she could tell that the same pain hurt Drake, too. She opened her eyes and the physical world drenched her senses. Her eyes hurt, her ears picked up the sounds of the night that she had been oblivious to just seconds ago. Mica also found that the two of them had fallen from their feet and were half-lying on the floor and leaning against the foot of her bed. He had been nuzzling her throat, but pulled back from her now.

"I'm sorry." He said, standing up as she did too. "I – I was so confused … and – I just … I wasn't used to – to being outside of the enclave."

He continued his apology, his words becoming mumbles and incoherent syllables. "Drake. Stop." He ceased, looking down at her in shame. "Drake, it's okay. I understand. I may not know what it feels like to have bloodlust in my veins, but I was brought up in a household full of vampires. I understand."

But Drake still held a gaze of pain in his emerald green eyes. "Drake, I realise that this isn't easy. I realise that being brought up in an enclave is so different from the outside world. But you are nothing like the Night World vampires. You are different. You've changed and now you're here, with people that accept you for who you are. With people who love you."

Drake deadpanned. "The people here don't love me."

Mica looked at him, her eyes wet from emotion and she knew that they held such an innocent and young gaze. "But I love you."

Drake looked at her, his green eyes penetrating into her. She could see all the emotion in his eyes. The love, the surprise … and the connection. He looked so soft, almost vulnerable. "I love you too." He said quietly, in a whisper that sent warm shiver down Mica's back and around her middle. They kissed again. This time it was just a kiss. There was no amazing, earth-shaking revelation.

They kissed and Drake leant her back against the bed. Mica could still feel his mind. She could sense the exterior of his soul, his content and his happiness. _I love you_. He thought, kissing her passionately.

"Mickey?!" And suddenly they were no longer alone…

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I would forever be in debt and in love with anyone who reviewed. So please, please, please review. 


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Thanks for heavenzdevil911 and Anna's reviews, reviews always inspire more writing. Um, I found this chapter a little heavier to write, it just doesn't seem to have the same flow as the other chapters. Tell me what you think, like whether you agree or disagree. But hopefully my next chapter will be better, I just needed this to get through some exposition. So anyways, I don't own the Night World, it's all L.J. Smith's. Hope you enjoy this.

Chapter 6 – Being One of Us

_Ash. Damn. _Mica slid off the bed as Drake pushed himself off of her. Ash, James and Quinn stood just outside her doorway. Somehow, and she didn't know why, the door was open. The three vampires stood there in shock, glaring at Drake.

"Ash. James. Quinn." Mica pressed her lips together. Embarrassed that her three older brother figures had seen her making out with Drake Blackthorn; she was also annoyed that someone had opened the door.

"Mica." Ash said through clenched teeth, moving towards them. Quinn held his hand up, stopping Ash from moving any further. Of the three of them, Quinn was probably the most mature. Understandable, considering he was the oldest.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mica moved a little further away from Drake. "Shouldn't you still be out partying at the Iris?"

"We don't party." James said softly. "And we came back because we finally got a lead."

"That and a couple of made vamps were getting a little rough with Quinn." Ash added. Quinn threw a glare at the Redfern vampire.

"A lead?" Mica queried. She knew she wouldn't get any detailed answers. Even though she lived in Daybreak headquarters, Thierry and Hannah forbade her from an involvement in missions.

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"Thierry, we have a serious problem." Jez and Rashel had parted from the boys as soon as they entered the house. As soon as the gang had returned to the mansion, Ash, James and Quinn sensed something amiss about Mica and immediately went upstairs to investigate. Keller went to her own suite to clean herself up. Their night at the Iris had gotten messy, involving Keller being attacked by an idiotic made vampire with a silver dagger who was probably born five minutes ago and thought he could take Keller on. After assuring Jez and Rashel that she could take care of herself, Keller pulled the knife from her arm and stalked upstairs.

"What is it?" Thierry looked up from the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

"We found a lead." Rashel said firmly.

"Why is that a problem?" Thierry frowned. "It's a good thing."

"No, it's a very bad thing." Jez said wildly. "They want Mica, Thierry!"

"What?" Thierry deadpanned. "Wait, just start from the beginning."

"When Ash took Mica to the Iris the other night, a high level gang associated with the Night World was there too." Rashel said calmly. "They saw her."

"Hold on a second, gang of what?" Thierry sat up. "Vampires, lamia, witches, shifters?"

"Made vampires," Jez snarled bitterly.

"And at least one witch." Rashel added. "Look, the point is that they had a psychic among them and they _sensed_ her."

"As a human?" Hannah asked.

Rashel shook her head. "As a hybrid. Vampire-witch-shifter-human."

"What?" The four turned to the doorway to see Thea Harman standing there. For a moment there was only silence. Then Thea tried again. "Mica's a what?"

"Thea, come in, please, and shut the door." Thierry ordered, and Thea did so. "Okay, Jez, Rashel, what did this gang want?"

"They recognized Ash and Morgead from the other night." Rashel said. "They wanted Mica because they know what kind of potential she has. They want her for their cause."

"Their cause?" Hannah asked.

"We don't know what it is." Rashel shrugged. "They attacked Keller when we refused. They also said that they would be after Mica, even if we didn't give in."

"Wait a second." Thea frowned. "How is it possible to have such a hybrid?" Before Thierry could answer, heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs and past Thierry's office. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Thierry, have you seen…" Mica entered and her mahogany eyes reached Thea. "Oh Goddess, Thea!" She ran to the witch and hugged her. "I thought you weren't getting here until tomorrow."

"Yeah, Eric and I took the earlier train." Thea smiled warmly as Mica pulled away.

"That's so cool, I should go up and say hi to Eric." Mica grinned. Thea nodded and the two of them left the office.

"Thierry, what are we going to do?" Hannah asked, worried.

"Prepare her." Thierry said. "Slowly and gradually teach her about magic and train her."

"And what if her powers manifest while she's training?" Rashel raised her eyebrows. "What if she heals from a cut like one of us or what if she actually produces magic in one of her teaching sessions?"

"We can't keep this from her, Rashel." Thierry said simply. "I have half a mind to tell her everything right now but I have a feeling she couldn't handle it. Mica is seventeen and she's turning eighteen very soon. She's an individual soul and she's very strong. She'll handle this when the time is right, but not when she's forced into it."

* * *

Mica was woken up the next morning by a loud bang at her door. Covering herself completely with her duvet, Mica groaned when she heard her door open and someone enter.

"Come on, Mica, get up." Pulling off her covers, Mica was met by the sight of Rashel, a barbaric grin on her face and her bright green eyes ablaze.

"Rashel…its Saturday." Mica cried. "Please, just leave me alone."

"Come, come, now Mica." Rashel yanked the covers cleanly off of the bed in one single motion. "You'll be excited when you hear what we've got in store for you." Wearing only a pair of boyleg briefs and a cotton t-shirt, Mica shivered as someone opened a window. "Rashel Jordan, please just leave me alone." Mica groaned, diving underneath her pillow.

"Mica, I'd wake up if I were you." A male voice spoke this time. It was familiar. It was…Drake's voice. _Oh crap_. Mica jolted upright, covering her legs by pulling her pillow onto her lap as subtly as possible.

"What's going on?" Mica asked, wide eyed.

"Get dressed." Rashel said smugly, turning to leave. "Something comfortable. Track pants and a tank top or something." As soon as Rashel left, Drake shut the door.

"Drake, what's going on?" Mica asked again, getting up and blushing as he turned back to her.

"Thierry said something about training." Drake shrugged, his green eyes dropping from Mica's face and down her body. Mica raised her eyebrows, surprised at his boldness.

_Sorry. I can't help it_. His voice echoed in her mind. Startled by the first ever telepathic thought she'd ever received, Mica gasped. She looked up to see Drake blushing.

"Uh…" Mica stepped into her wardrobe and got changed quickly. "Thierry's never let me train before." She said as she came out of the wardrobe dressed in a black t shirt and a pair of white draw string pants. The two made their way downstairs.

"Mica." Thierry greeted her with a smile. It felt almost foreign having Thierry at the breakfast table. Usually he was away on a job or asleep from a job the night before.

"Thierry, what's going on?" Mica asked as Hannah offered her a plate of pancakes. But Rashel rushed in and swept the plate away from Mica's waiting hands.

"No heavy food before heavy training." Rashel reprimanded, returning the plate to Hannah, who shrugged and gave it to Ash. Ash grinned. Mica pouted, narrowing her eyes at the vampire.

"Training?" She turned to Thierry once more.

"Well, Hannah and I have talked it over and we decided that you deserve to train." Thierry said casually. Mica frowned. Too casually. "You've always wanted to be apart of the team. So now here's your chance."

"But why?" Mica kept her eyes on Thierry, studying his reactions to find some sort of slip.

"We just realized after your trip to the Black Iris the other night that you're almost eighteen. That makes you almost an adult. And you're already so mature that we know you can handle this. You _do_ want to train, don't you?"

"Oh, of course." Mica nodded eagerly. "I was just curious as to why all of a sudden." Thierry simply smiled and returned to his breakfast.

* * *

"This will be interesting." Quinn quipped as Mica and Drake followed Rashel into the basement. He sat high up on the staircase as Rashel ran through the basics with Mica. Mica, of course, absorbed it all. She seemed to have committed it all to memory. Quinn, who had known Mica for much of her life, knew that Mica was strictly a mental person. She was clever, smarter than some of the vampires in the household, but she couldn't fight to save her life. All this training was absorbed as if it were theory material from a biology class.

Quinn watched in amusement when Rashel told Mica and Drake to spar with each other. Drake, being a lamia, had a natural grace; he was a good fighter. He tried to be careful with Mica, though, trying not to hurt her. Quinn respected that. But it only took a couple moves to have Mica knocked onto the floor.

"Oh, crap." She groaned as Drake helped her up. As much as Quinn loved Rashel, he knew that her teaching technique wasn't working on Mica. Rashel was hardwired with the concept that people who wanted to be fighters were as hard as she were. That they were as strong and as powerful and as angry. But Mica wasn't like that.

Quinn wriggled underneath the staircase railing and jumped from the stairs, in a sitting position, down to the stone floor, landing on his feet gracefully.

"Rashel, why don't you spar with Drake? I'll work with Mica." Quinn suggested. Rashel nodded, moving with Drake to another corner and began to spar gradually.

"Okay, let's see." Quinn circled around Mica. Tendrils of anxiety curled from Mica's mind. Quinn could understand why. She was a human, soft and loving, but not a fighter. And Quinn was a tough hunter. "Why do you want to fight, Mica?"

She shrugged. "So I can defend myself."

"From what? From who?" Quinn questioned, stopping in front of her, three feet away.

"From the Night World. Vampires, werewolves, shifters."

"Why?"

"Because they hurt people like me." Mica said, her mahogany eyes growing darker and stronger. "They enjoy it and I want that to stop."

"The idea of them hurting humans, does that make you sad?" Quinn asked, his black eyes trained on Mica, who shook her head slightly.

"No, it makes me angry."

"Concentrate on that anger." Quinn said. "Rashel has run you through all the basics. You know how to attack, you just can't. Because you aren't in the correct mind frame. But just use your anger."

Mica frowned, her dark eyes narrowing. "I know what you're trying to do."

"Do you?" Quinn had changed. He was no longer the loving, protective older brother. He was a hunter, a vampire, someone who wanted to hurt her. "Do you know how many people, like you, I've hurt? So many girls, young girls, over the past three hundred years. They scream you know." That last comment seemed to really affect Mica. Her eyes glinted that dark red mahogany colour and Quinn could have sworn that he saw flecks of gold.

Her arm muscles hardened and she pounced. Quinn blocked her easily, of course. But it was better than her sparring with Drake. Her attack was fuelled. Quinn smiled sardonically. Mica frowned and twisted away from his arms and aimed a well placed kick to his shin. A small, sharp pain hit Quinn, but not enough to affect him.

He grabbed her from behind and she, the clever girl she was, elbowed him heavily in his diaphragm. Winded, Quinn doubled backwards. Mica freed herself from his grip and grabbed a wooden stave that was attached to the basement wall on a weapons display. Spinning around sharply, Mica aimed the sharp tip of the stave at him.

"They plead," Quinn sneered. "And cry and sob and, some of them, try to fight back. Idiots." Mica let out a low growl, a sound that she had never made before. She leapt forward, attempting to hook her heel around Quinn's foot to trip him. But she wasn't strong enough, it was as simple as that. Quinn stayed rooted to the ground. He grabbed the stave in her hands, but she kept her grip on it. Twisting it, he maneuvered her around and trapped her between his torso and the hard stave held horizontally against her chest.

"You did good." Quinn returned to normal, releasing the girl.

She rolled her eyes. "I can't do it. I suck."

"No, you did really well this time." Quinn grinned. "You just need to concentrate all your emotions into combat energy."

"I need a break." Mica sighed. She had been there for more than three hours and she was drenched in sweat and looked exhausted. "Come on, Drake, time for breakfast." Drake grinned and followed her upstairs.

"So, how is he?" Quinn asked as soon as the two were out of the room.

"He's good. Fast, strong." Rashel shrugged. "But his technique is way off. He needs discipline."

"That's easily fixed." Quinn smiled, kissing his soulmate gently on her forehead. "Mica needs inspiration. She's still confused about all of this."

"Of course she is." Rashel rolled her eyes, fixing the weapons display up. "Thierry needs to tell her soon." Quinn frowned.

"She won't be able to handle it." He said grimly. "Mica may understand the Night World, but she doesn't understand what it's like to be one of us." Rashel raised an eyebrow.

* * *

"A lesson about magic?" Mica raised an eyebrow. Thierry and Thea stood before her. After breakfast, Drake had been chased back down to the basement to continue training. Now Mica, Thierry and Thea were Thierry's personal library. It was smaller than the other library, but much more extravagant.

Mica shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she sighed. "Thierry, I know that something is going on. You would never let me touch magic unless there was a perfectly good reason. I know how dangerous it can be. So, now, you really need to tell me what the situation is."

Thierry's eyes darted to Thea for the tiniest fraction of a second before returning to Mica. He sighed, resigning to whatever was restricting him from telling her the truth before. "Okay." Mica pressed her lips together, waiting.

"I know that you've always thought you were a human. You've been raised like that." Thierry began. Mica frowned. Where was he going with this? "But, well, you're mother and father weren't human."

Mica began shaking her head. "Mica, wait. You're mother, she was a part witch, part vampire. She chose to train as a witch, but you still have vampire and witch blood in you."

Taking in a deep breath, Mica cleared her mind. She was used to unworldly, strange discoveries, but it was different when it was about her. "So, what, I'm part witch, part vampire?"

"And part shifter, part human." Thierry added, twisting his lips in a strange pout. "You're father was half-jaguar-shifter and half-human."

Mica blinked slowly, letting a wave of dizziness and confusion wash over her. "That's impossible."

* * *

So that's the chapter. Whether you liked it, loved it, hated it, thought it was mediocre, please, please, please tell me. You're reviews will inspire me to write more, and your criticism (if you have any) will help me fix mistakes that I've made. Hope you enjoyed it, Dreaming June. 


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Just to start off with, no, I don't own anything to do with the Night World, it's all L.J. Smith's. I know this chapter's a little short, hopefully the next one will be longer. I hope you guys enjoy this one, and if you do, please review. Maybe just a little message to tell me that people are actually reading this please… um, and if you don't like it, I can handle criticism. Lol, yea, so just, hope you like it.

* * *

Chapter 7 - Lies

"That's impossible." Mica whispered it again, her muscles trembling greatly. This _couldn't_ be true…could it?

"Apparently not, considering you're standing here with us now." Thea said, a sympathetic look in her warm eyes.

Mica shook her head fiercely, regaining control over her body. "No, I mean it's impossible. I've studied the genotypes of all Night World species. I've read so much about this. About the genetics of the separate species and there have been studies taken on various hybrids that have occured! I've read about it and I've studied; I know more about it than anyone in this house. It's impossible."

Thierry stared at her in awe. Realization dawned him as he remembered that Mica wanted to be a scientist and that she had a love for chemistry and biology. It was no surprise that she would have dug up on the genetics of Night World creatures once she'd run through human genetics. "Mica, I'm sorry, but it's true."

"No, it can't be." Mica frowned stubbornly. "I've read about the hybrids. The most that they have are the two species hybrids; that in it's own is an abomination to science. Having four separate alleles would just…" Mica sighed, looking beaten, "it's just impossible."

Thierry looked sad. His foster daughter was rejecting it. She couldn't handle it. He knew that he should have waited another year or so. But it was too late. "Mica, aren't you curious why I suddenly let you train and learn?"

Her dark mahogany eyes perked up, flecks of gold glowing in her irises. "Oh. Yeah, why now?"

"There are people after you. Night people."

Mica frowned. "Who?"

"A gang of made vampires." Thierry said flatly. "They want you so they can train you and use you."

"Why would they want that?" Mica demanded.

"We don't know." Thierry shrugged, all of a sudden he looked exhausted.

"So, wait," Mica shook her head, as if clearing her mind. "With my genes. My abilities, do I have to choose one specific species to train as? Is it like with Jez?"

"Jez?" Thea frowned.

"Well, when she drinks blood, she's a vampire with all the respective abilities. But when she stays off of blood, she's like a normal human being." Mica explained as if it were obvious.

"Oh, right." Thea nodded. "Well we aren't so sure about that. We can't be sure until you actually tap into any of your abilities."

There was a long pause. No one knew what to do or say. Mica shut her eyes, processing all of this new information. "How long have you known?"

Thierry and Thea shared a look. For a moment no one said anything. The small library was silent, cold, awkward. "How long?" Mica's voice was stronger, but cold, demanding.

"Ever since you came to live here." Thierry said solemnly.

"Ever since my mum was killed." Mica said. Her dark eyes were cold and empty. They had lied to her. For seven years, they had been lying to her. And her mother lied to her, too. The people that she loved most in this world had lied to her for her entire life.

"I need to get some air."

"Mica, it's not safe." Thierry said.

"I'll take Drake with me." Mica said with a dangerous tone. "I just need to … to think this all through."

* * *

"So is this like our first date or something?" Drake joked as the two sat down at a booth of a local café. She'd been here many times before and she knew many of the waitresses and busboys from school. Unfortunately, most of the times she had been here were with Greg. The café was a popular eatery for fellow Lake Mead High students, and many of them were staring at Mica, probably wondering why she was with the new guy instead of her boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend, not that anyone knew it.

"No," Mica sighed. "Well, I don't know. I just needed to get out of the house."

"Are you okay?" Drake asked immediately, his bright green eyes shadowed in worry. He took her hand and suddenly her mind exploded in his emotions. Worry and concern surged into her head.

"No," Mica shut her eyes. "There's something I need to tell you." Suddenly, a group of rowdy teenagers entered the café. Boys, Mica looked up and recognized a couple of them. They were seniors. Her eyes widened, they were Greg's friends.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Drake asked warmly, recognizing her expression.

"No," Mica said strongly as she caught a glance of Greg sitting down with his friends. "Look, there's something really important. Something that I just found out today." She winced as the boys let out another loud burst of laughter and jeering. All of a sudden Mica felt extremely crowded. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. She felt as if all the jeering was caught in her mind and was pushing against her own thoughts.

"What is it?" Drake asked. "You seem really stressed." Mica let out a sad laugh.

"I am stressed." Mica whispered as the boys moved tables, closer to her and Drake's booth. "And I'm confused and these people won't shut up."

"Hey," Drake took both her hands again and leant forward. In an air of warmth and love he kissed her long and gently. And it worked. All the thoughts fled her mind and she was calm again.

Closing her eyes, Mica smiled. "Thank you." A loud and obvious cough sounded behind her. Turning slightly she saw Greg and his best friends glaring at Drake. Mica turned back to Drake, ignoring the idiots sitting behind her. But this also meant that she couldn't tell him about everything, they would be sure to hear her.

"Hey Mica." A shrill, bubbly voice greeted. It was a waitress; a junior that Mica knew from school.

"Hi Kylie." Mica smiled warmly, clearing her mind. "How're you?"

"Good, good." Kylie smiled at Drake brightly. "So what're you guys after?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Drake shook his head. The look in his eyes told Mica that he needed to go out feeding soon.

"I'll take a soda." Mica shrugged. Kylie nodded, gave Drake another flirty smile and left. "Drake, are you okay? I mean, do you need to…" she trailed off meaningfully.

"No, I'm okay." Drake smiled.

"You sure?" Mica raised her eyebrows questioningly. But before he could reply, Mica's seat lowered slightly as the weight of someone dropped down next to her. Mica turned to see Derrick Ricks sitting next to her. Derrick was Greg's best friend, but Mica had never truly liked him. He was loud and derogatory and just plain idiotic.

"Hey babe." Derrick grinned, slipping his arm around her shoulders. Across from him, Riley Evans sat down next to Drake.

"What are you guys doing?" Mica demanded, taking Derrick's hand and moving it off of her.

"Just hanging with a friend." Riley smirked. Then he turned to Drake with a dangerous look in his eyes. "You're the new guy, right?"

"Yeah." Drake said in a low voice. A flash of annoyance and anger crossed his green eyes. Mica looked at him meaningfully, warning him not to do anything.

"Jake Blackhorn or something, right?" Derrick said, laughing raucously. Drake glanced at him and Mica could sense the Power behind his green glare. It was strong enough to silence Derrick's laughter.

"Here you go." Kylie bounced over to the booth and a glass of Coke on the table with a flourish, eyeing Drake.

"Oh, Kylie." Derrick reached out to grab her hand, but knocked over the glass. Mica watched, flinching as the glass spilled off the table, spraying dark and sticky liquid all over the linoleum, and shattered. All four stood up immediately as Kylie's legs were showered with Coke and splinters of glass.

Shoving Derrick out of the way, Mica moved out of the booth and helped Kylie away from the glass. Another girl came with a broom and mop and began cleaning the mess up.

"Are you okay, Kylie?" Mica asked, helping the girl brush glass from her jeans.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked shocked and almost scared. "Just startled, you know." _Crash_. Mica and Kelly looked over to the booth to see Greg and Drake fighting.

_Oh Goddess_.

"Hey!" A busboy yelled out, but to no avail. Mica rushed over and grabbed Greg's arm as he tried to punch Drake.

"What the _hell_ are you guys doing?!" Mica roared. Even though Greg was much larger than Mica, she pulled him away from Drake. Neither of them said a word. For a moment, the café was filled with silence. But as soon as Mica relaxed her grip on Greg's jacket, he lunged forward to punch Drake again.

Drake took the punch, without a scar, and trip Greg, knocking him to the ground. He moved down to picked him up again to continue attacking him. Suddenly everything began to spin. Mica's vision blurred for just a second. When it cleared, a faint dizziness attacked her.

"_HEY_!" Mica screamed. It wasn't just her voice that yelled, it was her mind. She put so much power in it that one word that Greg and Drake stopped. They stopped, separated and looked at her.

Everyone looked at her. Suddenly she was filled with an odd sensation. Her hearing blocked out slowly and suddenly her vision went misty. Just around the corners, but soon she wasn't able to see anything. Part of her could feel herself fall, she could feel her legs give way and her muscles loosen and her body hit the cold, hard linoleum, but the other part just went blank. They other part saw nothing, heard nothing and felt nothing. Nothing mattered, _don't try to wake up, just come into the darkness… _

* * *

Thank you so much for reading this, I hope you guys thoroughly enjoyed it. Please review, Dreaming June. 


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Thanks so much to heavenzdevil911, without you this story would be non-existent. I've been having some trouble with getting this story moving ahead, but I've tried my hardest. All concepts of the Night World belongs to LJ Smith, etc. Hope you guys enjoy this one and please review when you've read it.

* * *

Chapter 8 – The First

_Wake up_.

Mica opened her eyes slowly. Her mind felt…fuzzy. She was disorientated but no longer dizzy. Her muscles felt heavy and rigid. No, not rigid…they were bound. When she tried to move her arms, she found that they were tied to together behind her back.

_What the hell is going on_? Mica moved her head up to no avail. The room was dark. But she knew it was a small room, she didn't know how she knew but she just knew it. Maybe it was a witch thing, maybe a shapeshifter thing. That must mean that her powers were waking up.

"Mica Brigit Everet." The voice was female, cool and liquid and clear. Suddenly a flame sparked, flashing a split second before stabilizing. Someone had struck a match and now candles were being lit.

Mica looked around. It was like a dungeon. The room was made of flagged stone and the only light sources were the torches attached to the stone walls. It was like a medieval castle. Mica shivered.

In front of her stood a girl. Not just any girl, Mica thought that maybe she was a vampire. But there was a feeling to her, some sort of aura that proclaimed much more power than any ordinary vampire. She was beautiful. Not human beautiful, but not Night World beautiful either. She was amazing.

Her hair was long, reaching down to her hips, and black. An amazing black colour that was darker than Mica's hair. Her skin was paler than Mica's own porcelain pale skin. It was like chalk, but not harsh. Her skin was translucent, smooth and white. And her eyes…wow. Perfectly clear and…hazel? In the candlelight, those eyes shone a magnificent gold. Like liquid amber.

Normally, Mica could hold her cool around other Night World vampires. They never scared her and she could talk her way out of a bad situation. But with this vampire? No way.

"Who are you?" Mica asked immediately, wincing at the vulnerable tone of her voice.

"You'll learn my name soon enough, sweetie pie." The vampire spoke, leaning in closer to Mica. As her eyes settled on Mica, the human girl gasped. She could see those eyes almost swirling. And when the movement in the vampire's irises ceased, the colour was no longer gold. Her eyes were a pure sea green. "You'll figure it out." The vampire winked and straightened with a slight smile.

Mica struggled slightly against her wrist restraints.

"Oh, don't do that, dear." The vampire spun on her heel. "We wouldn't want to tear your pretty flesh."

"What do you want?" Mica asked. Her voice wasn't hysterical, just quiet and cool.

"To eliminate the threat." She emphasized her words sharply. Mica frowned. "That would be you, sugar."

"Me?" Mica would have laughed if she wasn't so scared. "I'm no threat."

"Oh, but you are." A slight pause. "You are the new hybrid." Mica almost gasped, terror rising in her.

"But that doesn't mean I'm a threat." Mica said in a shrill voice, hysteria coming into play.

"Oh you will be." Those green eyes becoming a bright fiery blue. "You are part witch, part lamia, part shifter, part human. You are the one in the prophecy."

_Prophecy?_ Mica heard a slight noise from outside the room.

"Maya!" A male voice, someone unfamiliar. He called from outside and distracted Maya. Mica took this opportunity. She stood and pushed her bound hands up and lowered her elbows, aiming it at a pressure point on Maya's shoulder.

Of course, Maya heard it coming. She spun around just before Mica hit her, grabbed her arms and threw her across the room. And everything went dark again.

* * *

"Mica?" Her eyes opened immediately and sat up stiffly. Drake. Mica softened as she saw Drake sitting next to her. "Are you okay?"

"What?" Mica could barely hear him. Dizziness attacked all her senses, blurring her vision and blocked her hearing.

"Mica." It was Thierry's voice this time. He sat in front of her and then Mica realized that they were in her bedroom. Thierry took both her shoulders with his hands and stared into her eyes. All of a sudden, the dizziness subsided.

"What happened?" Mica asked.

"You fainted in the café." Drake said. "Vampires came in and took you away, I couldn't stop them."

"But then we found you in the alley behind the café." Rashel was in the room too. "I guess the vampires didn't get very far before they dumped you."

"No," Mica frowned and slid off the bed. "I was in this dungeon. Like in a castle. And there was this vampire."

"Vampire?" Thierry raised an eyebrow. "Just one?"

"Goddess, I forgot her name." Mica squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh, wait, um, Mia, or, no…Maya. Yeah, her name was Maya."

"Maya?" A flash of pure terror burst in Thierry's dark eyes. "That's impossible, Mica. Maya's been dead for a long time."

"Well she was there." Mica said. "She said something about a prophecy. About a hybrid. About me."

* * *

Author's Note: Well there you go. Thank you so much for reading. Please, please, please review. Your comments and critiques really help me with my writing.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys! First off, my apologies for taking so long to update. I've had some trouble continuing with the story line. Hope you guys enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: You guys know that I don't own Night World. Although I do own Mica and Drake. I love those two )

* * *

Chapter 9 - The Prophecy

"Do you know her?" Mica queried. Thierry almost shivered. The worst of all evils had just kidnapped his foster daughter and gave her back, and Mica didn't have a clue how close she had been to dying.

"I knew her." Thierry pressed his lips together. "Mica, she died. I don't know who you saw, but it wasn't Maya. Maya has been dead for almost ten years."

Mica frowned. Thierry could see the confusion swirl in her eyes. The torment, the emotional pain, it wasn't just from her recent attack. Mica had been through so much in her entire life. Her mother's death had hurt her so much when she was a child. Thierry remembered a twelve year old Mica who would not leave her room.

She would start shrieking in horror whenever someone entered her room. The only people who would allow in were Thea, Quinn and Jez. Strange enough, whenever Ash merely went near her door, Mica could start sobbing.

Eventually Mica opened up. She started talking to Hannah and Thierry. She even spoke to Ash, finally. Of course, once in a while, Thierry could hear her sobbing at night. But there was nothing he could do about it, as much as it broke her heart.

"Mica, how about you just relax. Get some rest. We'll handle it." Thierry said. Mica paused, her deep brown eyes worried. She didn't know if she could still trust Thierry. After all, he had lied to her most of her life. Then she thought back, her mother had lied to her as well, but she would trust her mother with all her life.

Mica sighed. "Okay. But I want to help tomorrow." Thierry nodded.

* * *

"Maya?" Hannah paled. "I thought she was gone."

"She's supposed to be." Quinn said through clenched teeth. All the soulmate couple agents were sitting around Thierry's office, attempting to figure out some sort of resolution for this new catastrophe.

"Oh, Isis." Thea paled. "I remember reading a prophecy given by Aradia. It said that the Ancient of all Evils would return to this world to battle the Newest Power."

"Newest Power?" Rashel frowned. "You mean Mica?" Thea nodded grimly.

"Then that would make Maya the Ancient of all Evils." Keller said coldly, her grey eyes cool and solemn.

"No." Hannah shook her head. "Mica is _not_ the Newest Power, because that would mean that she would have to go up against Maya. And there is no way I would ever let that happen." Her voice broke and tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

Thierry pulled her into a hug, trying to calm her.

"Why are we underestimating Mica?" Keller frowned. "She's a strong person. Stronger than a lot of us."

"But not as powerful as us." Jez said simply. All eyes went to her. "Look, I know that she is a hybrid, but she hasn't tapped into her power yet. She doesn't know how to control her body or her magic or any of that. If there's a prophecy out there saying that she needs to battle Maya then she's going to. But before that, we need to prepare her."

For a very long moment, the room was completely silent. No one made a sound, no one moved and no one blinked. Jez's statement sunk in and after a long beat, movement began again. Some of them shuffled uncomfortably and breathed deeply.

"What exactly does the prophecy say?" Quinn asked after the very long silence.

"I'm not sure." Thea said. "I'm sure that it should be printed in one of the texts in the library. I'll try to find it."

"I'll come with." Mary Lynette stood up and followed Thea out of the room.

"So, what now then?" Ash asked.

"We train Mica." Thierry said simply. "Rashel and Keller can help her with fighting and using both her vampire and shapeshifter abilities in battle. And we can have Thea and Poppy help her with her witchcraft."

"You can't be serious?" Hannah frowned. "This is Maya, we're talking about. How did she get back anyways? She died, I remember that vividly."

"She must have found a way to come back." Quinn said in a deep, cold voice. "I've heard of spells of resurrection."

Thierry frowned in concentration. "I've heard of them too. But our concern right now is to prepare Mica physically, magically and emotionally. This is a really huge responsibility for her and we need to make it easy on her."

* * *

Mica laid in her bed awake. She kept seeing images of Maya's eyes in her mind. She felt so shaken by the way that Thierry had reacted to Maya's name. What was so terrible about a single vampire that would cause such a reaction? Mica did feel something strange about Maya, something much more powerful than should have been. But to elicit a response like that? It just scared her even further. Mica turned over on her side and checked her alarm clock. 3:27 blared at her in neon red digits.

Groaning in frustration, Mica got out of bed and slipped into a dressing gown. She knew that she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, she might as well do something useful.

Creeping as silently as possibly, Mica moved down the hallway and stepped into the library. There she realized that much work had been done that night. The usually neat library had a large amount of book laid out and open on the desk. Sheets of paper had substantial amounts of scribbled notes on them.

Frowning, Mica immediately snatched up the book closest to her and began reading. It was a book about hybrids. It was one that she had read many times before when she was studying the science of the Night World. Tossing that book aside, she moved onto the next. This one was about Maya.

Gasping, Mica sat down and began reading. Maya had once been a witch, back during the dawn of civilization. She had performed a terrible ritual and become the very first vampire. She was more powerful than any other vampire and had a variety of abilities. Mica froze when she read the last line.

Maya was killed by Hannah Snow.

Hannah would never kill anyone. And Maya wasn't dead; Mica had seen her in plain sight. Nothing seemed right. Throwing that book back, Mica picked up another one. _Resurrection Ceremonies_. Oh the Goddess incarnated. Mica dropped the book and stumbled slightly. Dizziness attacked her vision and she could barely stand.

Shaking the dizziness and shock away, Mica found a piece of note paper on the desk. A prophecy.

_The Newest Power to come into power after the Millennium War would stand to battle the most Ancient of all Evils. If the Newest Power is to fail, Evil will prevail and the Worlds, both Night and Human, will never return to the balance it once was._

Mica's heart thundered in her chest. Tears pricked her eyes and her hands began to shake. She read on.

_The Newest Power is not only new in terms of time, but also in terms of revelation. The Newest Power is a hybrid of all four species of the world. She is to have the strength and speed of a lamia, the magic of a witch, the instinct of a shapeshifter and the heart of a human. _

Mica's trembling hands dropped the book. This wasn't happening. Maya didn't sound like the sort of vampire who would die from a simple staking. And Mica was definitely in no position to destroy the very first lamia of all time. She couldn't do it. If she had to run, then she would do just that.

Blinking several times, Mica cleared her mind. She clenched her hands into fists and calmed herself.

_Do not give in._ Her mother's voice echoed in her mind. Tears poured down her pale cheeks as she fought the internal battle of her grief. She had made a promise to her mother. And she would go through with it, even to the very end.

"Mica?" A male voice spoke, snapping Mica out of her thoughts.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: LJ Smith owns Night World, not me.

Author's Note: Hey guys! Here's my latest update. I know I've been updating really slowly lately but school's been taking over just a little lately, plus I really wanna tie this story together properly. Hopefully you guys will like this chapter, please review :)

* * *

Chapter 10 – An Intrusion

Mica jumped up out of the chair. Turning around, she saw Drake Blackthorn standing at the doorway. For a split second, Mica's vision blurred and a halo of golden light from the fireplace surrounded her soulmate.

Blinking the haze away, Mica frowned when she caught sight of a tiny splatter of blood on Drake's dark shirt. On closer inspection, she saw a speck of dried blood caked to the corner of his mouth. What was more disturbing than the sight of the blood was the smell of copper. Her nostrils had once been filled with the scent of fire wood and musty books. But now she could smell blood. Human blood.

"You've just been out feeding." She stated coldly.

A guilty expression crossed Drake's eyes. "Yeah."

For a long beat neither said a word. Mica finally took in a deep breath and prayed to the gods that Drake wouldn't reject what she was about to disclose to him. Stepping closer to him, she gazed into his gem green eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, a worried expression replacing his guilty one.

Mica swallowed and lowered her eyes to the floor. "Something happened."

"Did Maya hurt you?" Drake asked, his voice brimming with a protective aggression.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Mica shut her eyes. "Apparently, I'm part of some prophecy. It says that I have to battle Maya."

"Battle Maya?" Drake exclaimed. "Why would a human have to face the strongest lamia of all time?"

"Drake, I'm not human." Mica swallowed, her heart thundering. She expected him to yell again, but he didn't say another word. He lifted her chin up, staring into her dark eyes expectantly. "I'm a hybrid. I only found out yesterday. That's what I was trying to tell you at the café."

Drake's eyes filled with concern as his arms slipped around her, holding her close. "What exactly are you a hybrid of?" His deep voice was filled with curiosity, although Mica knew that he was trying his hardest to sound caring.

"Human, and vampire," Mica paused, her throat drying. Drake nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. She swallowed. "And witch and shapeshifter."

"What?" Drake pulled back. "You're serious?"

Mica nodded warily. "The prophecy says that the Newest Power has the ability to tap into all four of those species' abilities. And the Newest Power has to battle Maya, to kill her."

"Abilities? Humans don't have abilities." Drake scoffed, frowning.

"Well, it said a human heart." Mica shrugged. "Maybe that means kindness or something…?" She shut her eyes and shook her head. "I don't know. Drake, I can't do this. I'm not some super witch or vampire or anything. I'm just me, I can't fight Maya."

Drake brought his arms to her shoulders and gazed into her teary mahogany eyes. "Hey." His voice was soft and soothing. Drake leant in and kissed her softly on the lips, leaving only an imprint of his warmth and strength. "You are the strongest person I have ever met. Even when I thought you were a human, I knew that you had the strength to beat any of the vampires here. You're tougher than you give yourself credit for."

Mica trembled, her eyes welling up in tears. "I know what you're trying to do. I know that I'm _supposed_ to be the one to get rid of Maya, but I honestly can't. I don't know how."

Drake paused. "Mica, I know you believe that everything happens for a reason, I sensed that right away. And what if you living with a group of the strongest, most powerful Night Worlders ever, happened for a reason. That it was your destiny to meet Thierry and Rashel and everyone, so that you could learn how to defeat Maya?"

"Drake, how am I supposed to defeat the strongest vampire of all time, the first of all the lamias?" Mica exclaimed. "She has abilities that amaze even Thierry! How could I possibly go up against that?"

"Because you're a survivor. You're a fighter, Mica." Drake spoke so softly that she could barely hear him over the roar of the fire. "And what's more, you never give in."

_Do not give in_. Mica blinked, looking up at Drake. How is it that he knew exactly what to say to motivate her? To tell her that she could indeed defeat the world's strongest evil and have her believe it. Because she did believe it now. And even if she didn't defeat Maya, she wouldn't give in.

"My Goddess, for a part vampire whose also part cat, you are the noisiest hybrid I've ever met."

Mica pulled away from Drake to see Ash standing in the library, wearing only a loose pair of black drawstring pants.

Mica made a face. "Ash, you've only met two hybrids. And for the record, Jez can be pretty loud."

"But not at night when we're all trying to get to sleep." Ash shot back. His eyes burned as gold as the embers in the fireplace as he glared at Drake. "What are you two doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep," Mica mumbled. "And then I found all of this prophecy stuff."

Ash's eyes recoiled in a soft blue-green as sympathy entered his gaze. "It'll be okay. You have Rashel, Quinn, Keller and me to help you with all the training; and Thea and Poppy can help you with all the witchy crap."

Mica raised her eyebrows. "Witchy crap? You think Thea would be so appreciative about you referring to her life as crap? Or Blaise for that matter?"

Ash's eyes widened, recoiling from the blue-green into a scared violet. "You wouldn't dare call Blaise."

Mica smiled in a way that she knew would make Blaise proud. "You know I would." Mica saw Blaise quite frequently at the Harman store that she now ran, and they both thoroughly enjoyed scaring Ash. "Anyway, I'm gonna go down to the basement, maybe figure out this vampire _crap_." She emphasized the last word with a glare at Ash.

"I'll come with." Drake said quickly, following his soulmate before Ash could make another remark.

* * *

"You've seen witch fire before, haven't you, Ms Everet?" Winnie Arlin said brightly, a shock of witch fire in her palms.

Mica laughed. "It's just Mica, thanks. And, I've seen it before, but well…its weird." She reached out a finger to touch the fire but Winnie closed her fist immediately, extinguishing the witch fire immediately.

"Witch fire is stronger and hotter than normal fire." Winnie said sharply. "Unless you are the witch who conjured it, don't touch it. It's a witch's defense, her power; it's made to hurt."

Mica nodded. "So how do I conjure witch fire?"

"Okay, cross your legs, hold out your hands in front of you and shut your eyes." Winnie guided Mica into a light meditation. "Breathe slowly and feel the power flow through you."

Mica felt something spark; a slow warmth curling inside of her. The warmth grew into tendrils of heat, fighting against her flesh to break free.

"Look." Winnie spoke softly. Mica opened her eyes and almost gasped. A bright, pale yellow fire was floating in her hands. Her fire was much lighter than Winnie's had been. In fact, Mica's fire was almost white.

"White fire." Thea murmured, her dark eyes wide.

"What is it?" Mica asked, frowning.

"Well, white fire is a sign of purity, of good." Thea said. "Back in the times of the dragons, a coven of witches helped the Harman clan to imprison the dragons. The history books say that white fire is the only magic that can fight the dragons' black fire."

"Um…" Mica stared at the heat in her hands. "How do I put it out?"

"Oh," Winnie turned back to Mica. "Just close your eyes and imagine the heat being drawn back into your body." Mica nodded and did so. Upon opening her eyes, the fire was gone.

"Are you guys done yet?" Keller asked impatiently. Winnie, Thea and Mica had taken two hours to reach the stage of witch fire. Next was the use of shapeshifter abilities.

"Yeah, we're done." Winnie said, standing up. "We can't wear you down too much, you won't have enough energy to save us all."

Mica smiled awkwardly and left, saying, "Thanks for the lesson."

"Witches," Keller muttered under her breath as she led Mica down to the basement. "Wait." She held out a hand to stop Mica halfway down the stairs. Mica frowned, holding her breath and looked up at Keller.

"What?" She asked in a hushed voice. Without missing a beat, Keller grabbed Mica and dropped her over the stair railing. Mica fell ten feet, from the stairs down to the hard concrete floor of the basement. To her amazement, her feet caught the floor with a silky ease of a cat. None of her muscles or joints hurt from the impact.

"What the hell was that for?" Mica exclaimed as Keller herself leapt over the railing and down in front of Mica.

Keller smiled faintly. "Just a test." She stalked over to the centre of the room. "Now, since you aren't a full shapeshifter, you won't be able to actually 'shift into your animal self. But there'll be certain abilities you'll learn through our sessions."

"Like what?" Mica crossed her arms over her chest. She glanced at Rashel and Quinn who were sitting against the wall, watching Mica.

"You're a cat, like me." Keller stated simply. "You're senses will be so much sharper than that of the vampires. You'll be faster, and you can even jump higher."

Mica raised an eyebrow. "Jump higher?" Keller nodded.

"I just want to show you something interesting." Keller took out a tiny whistle and blew into it. A sharp, shrill squeal stung Mica's ears and she buckled, covering her ears with her hands. She looked up and realized that Quinn and Rashel were unaffected.

"Okay, that's just cruel." Mica argued once Keller put the whistle away.

"Just proving a point."

* * *

After a grueling hour with Keller, Mica escaped to her room.

"Are you okay?" Drake entered her room after knocking.

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted." Mica turned over to find Drake hovering over her in her bed. She smiled immediately, feeling warm from having her soulmate so close to her. "I can't wait for this all to be over."

Drake leant down closer to her, and kissed her neck softly. "Me neither. We can finally just finish school and live the rest of our lives together." Mica sat up and stared at him. For a long moment, she just stared into his eyes.

"Mica-" Drake was cut off with a kiss. Mica almost jumped onto him, kissing him passionately. The connection hummed strongly, transforming the kiss from a physical sensation to a different level.

The world just melted away. Nothing mattered, not witch fire training, nor combat training. Not even Maya concerned the young hybrid at that moment. The only thing in the world that mattered was Drake.

Mica caressed his neck as he deepened the kiss. Just as Drake moved over her, a scream wretched them apart. Drake jolted up, off the bed and Mica ran down to where the scream had come from.

In the living room, Mary Lynette clung to Ash, her face frozen in shock and terror. Mica stood there, her jaw dropped. A young man stood across from them, his green eyes blazing. Mica's heart pounded as she realized that he wasn't a man, he was a vampire. A lamia to be exact.

"Who the hell are you?" Ash sneered in a cold voice, holding Mary Lynette behind him. His eyes consumed in black and his teeth elongated to delicate points in a stance that Mica could only describe as predatory.

"What are you doing here?" Drake's voice held a hint of panic. Mica turned around to see her soulmate stare in terror.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – And Then It Dawned

"What's going on?" Hannah entered the room. Mica couldn't tear her eyes from Drake. There was something about his eyes, more than shock in his expression. It was fear. Drake was panicking.

"You're his brother." Mica stated in a still voice as she finally turned to the stranger. She remembered the very first time they had experienced the soulmate connection. Drake's brother had been somewhat of a fear of Drake's. The older vampire had been born quite a few years before Drake, and he was the most ruthless brother a vampire could dream of. Mica could sense it even from a short distance. There was a strange sheen to his skin. He had just fed obviously, but it had been a violent attack. Mica could see a slight pinkness to his skin where he had been splattered with blood and had attempted to wash it off.

He nodded. "Drake, I'm sorry. I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm sorry I startled you," he added, glancing at Mary Lynette.

Ash narrowed his opaque black eyes. "Get out." Mica had only ever seen Ash in this state once before in her lifetime. She had been fourteen years old and she had met a lamia at school. It was then that she was reminded that not all vampires were kind and loving like her adopted family. The vampire had tried to feed on her and Ash had attempted to stake him. If it hadn't been for Thierry and Quinn physically dragging Ash away, Mica's sophomore lamia friend would be nothing but a small mummified corpse.

Mica stared at Ash in fear of what he might do. Mary Lynette shared the very same expression on her face. In fact, Ash's soulmate was attempting to pull him away. But her efforts were in vain, Ash was so much stronger than Mary Lynette could even comprehend.

"Ash," Hannah warned. She turned to Drake's brother. "What exactly are you here for?"

"I'm here to redeem myself." He said firmly, gazing at Drake. "I didn't' mean to do all of that, it was just life in the enclave. I've realized how different things are."

"Get out." Ash hissed again, through clenched teeth.

He ignored Ash. "Look, I know some of the things I've done have truly hurt you. I need to make up for all that." Then he turned to Mica. "I've heard about the prophecy. I want to help, if I can."

Mica stared at him. Her sense were going wild. His smell was confusing. She had smelt that scent before, but it was masked, now, by blood. His voice was familiar too, though she couldn't quite place where she'd heard it from.

With those new imprints held clearly in her mind, Mica's memory exploded. Her mouth was filled with a foul taste that made her dizzy. She could almost feel a wetness on her fingers. It wasn't physically there, but when she rubbed her fingertips together, she could feel a thick, warm liquid smeared on her hands.

But of course, none of this showed on her face. Mica's expression was firm, one of coldness and detachment.

Drake, though, could sense all of her confusion. "Mica, are you okay?" He whispered in her ear.

Mica nodded, though she kept her eyes on his brother.

"What's going on?" A new voice entered the room, along with some other house members. James, Jez and Quinn stared at the stranger in their living room.

"Hannah, who is this?" James asked in his usual detached manner. But before she could answer Ash lunged forward. Attacking the stranger with fists and kicks that Mica had never thought even Ash could give, Ash was dragged away

"Uh.." Hannah, like the majority of the room, didn't even know the stranger's name. Everyone then turned to the vampire with questioning looks on their faces. All but Ash, who still had a murderous look in his swirling grey eyes.

"Calcite." He introduced himself with a strange ease. "I'm Calcite Blackthorn." That single word echoed in Mica's mind. _Calcite….Calcite….Calcite…Calcite_.

And finally Mica's mind cleared. The confusion was no more as she realized why Drake's brother had been so familiar to her. His scent was so strong now and his name echoed over and over.

"Calci…" Mica murmured as dizziness coursed through her mind. Her limbs trembled violently and her hearing was blocked. As her vision began to blur, the last thing she saw was Calcite's eyes. A bright emerald green gaze piercing through her as everything went grey.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: LJ Smith owns Night World, not me.

Author's Note: Okay, first of all, I forgot to add a disclaimer or author's note to my previous chapter, but apologies for chapter 11 for being so short. But, as you can see, I need for it to end with a cliffhanger. And this one is a little short too...somewhat, for the same reason. Thank you to all of your reviews. To Destiny, Galaxy (did you change your penname?) and faefay, thanks heaps for all of your reviews. Oh, Destiny...what does GRNES mean?!

Anywho, on with the chapter. Hope you guys enjoy. Please review :)

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Chapter 12 – Eyes of Grey

_There was a loud thud. A sickening sound that resonated in Mica's eleven year old mind. It sounded like a body falling against a wall, a slight hollow sound echoing after the thud._

_And then a scream. A scream that Mica had heard before, when her mother had caught Mica playing around with a cigarette lighter. It was a scream of pure terror. The scream ricocheted off the walls and down to the basement. Mica heard it over and over again in her mind._

_A shriek sounded. This one held no terror, but only pain. Mica gripped her tiny fingers around her golden necklace. She felt so numb that she didn't realize that the pendant was cutting into her palms. Tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision. _

_Then Mica heard an abrupt thump. This one was different from the first, it sounded much like someone slumping onto the floor. Mica choked on a sob as she realized that her mother was now dead. It wasn't because she had heard the last thump, but she just _knew_ it. In her mind, and in her heart._

_Mica pressed the heels of her palms at her temples, massaging strongly, as if to squeeze the hurt from her mind. Pain and terror attacked her through and through._

"_Cal, the girl isn't here!" _

"_I can smell her, she's here." It was Calcite. Calcite Blackthorn. The brother of her soulmate, and the cousin of her friend…and the killer of her mom._

"_Think, Calcite! She lives here, of course you can smell her here. We're going, now."_

* * *

Mica opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor of the living room, her head propped up against something firm and warm. Looking up, she realized that she was lying against Drake, his green eyes gazing at her worriedly.

"What happened?" He asked softly, his hand caressing her soft skin. Mica gazed up at him, her jaw set in determination. Sitting up without saying a word, she saw that Jez, Morgead and Thierry had joined them in the lounge room.

"Mica?" Drake stood up as she did. Mica just shook her head, her mahogany eyes trailing over to Calcite. In that split second, Mica knew that he remembered. And that he wasn't at all sorry. His thin lips peaked slightly, as if he were trying to hide a smile.

"Mica, what's wrong?" Jez asked, inching towards her.

Mica took in a deep breath, and slowly flickered her eyes over to Jez. Her eyes were dark, cold and emotionless. Mica felt so slow, numb from the realization. She moved lazily, turning back to Calcite.

Everyone turned to Drake's brother and his slight smile was replaced with a guilty expression. Calcite moved towards Mica. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It was such a long time ago, and I owed some people a lot for helping me through a rough time. I wasn't in the right state of mind."

Mica narrowed her mahogany eyes in pure rage. She advanced forward and her palms burned with an inner warmth. She looked down and realized that she had produced her white witch fire.

"Mica." Drake stepped forward, trying to pull her back, but she tore away from him and pushed her hands forward. The white fire shot forward and just missed Calcite's arm and singing his sleeve as it flew past and hit the wall behind him.

"Mica!" Drake pulled her back as she tried to shoot more fire to his brother. "Mica, what happened?"

Mica opened her mouth, about to reply. But the words were caught in her throat and she burst into tears.

"Mica." Jez said softly, moving forward.

"He killed her." Mica cried. "He killed her, Drake. Calcite killed my mother."

"What?" Ash hissed, moving towards Calcite once more. James held his cousin back, gripping his arm. There was a slight struggle between the two cousins, but Thierry helped hold Ash back.

"Wait-" Calcite stepped back slightly as Jez and Quinn advanced.

"Get out." Quinn said in a cold voice. His dark eyes glowed in anger and aggression, his hands clenched in fists.

"I-"

"Get out!" Jez shrieked, advancing forward. Before she could attack him, Calcite lashed his arm out. With an amazing strength, stronger than any vampire's that Mica had ever seen before, Calcite flung Jez back. She flew back, hitting her head against a wall and falling to the ground unconscious.

"Jez!" Morgead ran to her slumping body.

Mica stepped forward, her hands glowing with white fire once more. "Leave. Now."

But Calcite only smiled, and turned from Jez to Mica with a barbaric look in his grey eyes. Mica frowned, blinking. Calcite's eyes weren't grey, they were green. At least…they were supposed to be green. Mica took a step back, horrified as she realized what was truly happening…

* * *

A/N: Yea I know, you hate cliffhangers ;) Please review!!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed since I last updated, I dont' own Night World, if I did I'd be hauling ass to finish the tenth book! It all belongs to the lovely LJ Smith.

Author's Note: Thanks everyone for all of your reviews. It really does help when I write to know that there are people who will read it...and hopefully like it. So if you're one of those people, please review. And if you think this chapter or even this whole fic sucked, review also. I'd like to know you're opinions and critiques. Thanks guys!

* * *

Chapter 13 – Crashing Down

Green. Grey. Blue. Violet. Hazel. Brown. Black. Calcite's eyes swirled, the irises never settling on one single colour. Mica stepped back again. Then she saw that it was not Calcite's eyes that she was gaping at any longer.

"Maya." Hannah murmured, her voice filled with terror.

Calcite's face and body rippled as if they were under water. Calcite's figure changed, shortening slightly. He wasn't Drake's brother any longer. There stood a figure of a slender woman with long black hair and skin as pale as chalk.

Her full red lips curved into a malicious smile. Mica felt her insides tremor as Maya's black eyes turned to silver in a silky swirl.

_Do not give in_.

The tremors melted away and Mica felt herself strengthen. She took a step forward and felt Drake try to pull her back. Shaking his grasp off, Mica looked at Maya, and narrowed her strong mahogany eyes.

"Get out." She said in a strong voice. She could feel power rising within her. It wasn't like her witch fire, something stronger.

"I think I might stay a little longer, cupcake." Maya said in a sweet voice. She turned to Morgead, who was trying to wake Jez.

"She's not getting up!" Morgead cried, his voice full of emotion.

"Maybe I can soothe your pain." Maya slid towards Morgead.

"Don't!" Mica called out, thrusting her hands forward. White fire shot from her fingers and hit Maya in the side. The energy pushed her against the wall, leaving a crack. Maya got up with no any effort at all.

"I'd watch your manners, sweet pea." Maya said in a condescending tone. She advanced towards Mica at a speed that the young hybrid could not match. Maya slapped Mica. Hard. The force knocked her off her feet and when she stood back up, Mica could taste blood on her cut lip.

"Mica." Drake cried, slipping past Hannah. Without even looking up from Mica, Maya raised her arm and threw Drake across the room. Mica felt anger consume her. Every single emotion that swirled within her bubbled to the surface and her skin began to glow in a white light.

She felt her hands burn as white fire curled around her fingers in searing tendrils and her eyes shone with a bright light. None of it hurt, the heat from her power didn't harm her. As it coursed through her, Mica could feel fire burning through her, and it made her feel powerful.

"Leave." She said simply, raising her arms. She could the cut on her lip healing in an aura of warmth.

"You think I'm afraid of you, hybrid?" Maya said in a childish voice. She moved to slash at Mica, but the younger dodged the lash. She hit back, surprised at how forceful her attacks could actually be. Maya stumbled back. Red burns marred her porcelain skin from where Mica had touched her.

"You may be untouchable, but what about your friends?" Maya smiled an evil grin. She lashed to her side and Mary Lynette crumpled to the floor.

"No!" Mica rushed forward. She shoved Maya back and the lamia was hurtled _through_ the wall.

"Thierry, Jez isn't breathing." Morgead said in a panicked voice, tears staining his cheeks.

"Drake?" Mica rushed to her own soulmate. "Drake!" Shaking him awake, Mica sobbed in relief as his bright green eyes opened.

"I'm okay." He said, standing up only to stumbled back again.

"You all have to leave now." Mica ordered. Ash had already scooped Mary Lynette up and rushed from the room.

"We aren't leaving you." Quinn hissed as Maya stirred.

"You have to!" Mica shrieked. "If you stay, she'll only hurt more of you. Jez could be dead for all we know!" Her heart broke as Morgead choked on a sob. "Morgead, please, take her up to one of the rooms. Where's Thea?"

"That," Maya's voice was no longer silky but annoyed, "was actually painful, you little witch." Spinning around, Mica turned just to see Maya's foot kick her in the chest. Mica fell backwards, an excruciating pain hitting her front. For a second she thought her ribs were broken. But within seconds, everything felt fine and Mica stood up, jumping up high in the air as Maya's tried another kick.

Without watching what was going on, Mica turned around. There she saw Maya attacking someone else. Hannah.

"NO!" Mica rounded and grabbed Maya around the waist. Hurling her across the room, Mica watched as the ancient vampire crashed through the window. Splinters of glass cascaded into the room like a wave of frozen water. Without another thought, word or glance, Mica held her hands up and the buzzing white fire that was streaming around her hands collected into her palms.

Mica felt a strong, rushing warmth leave her as the white witch fire flew towards Maya. White energy flowed from Mica and expanded in every direction like a shimmering bubble of magic.

All she could see was the whiteness of her power, but she heard screams of pain and terror. She also heard more glass shattering and wood splintering. Everything was coming down around her, the living room was no more as the ceiling fell through.

Mica didn't see it happening, nor could she feel it. The last thing she saw was the white energy sizzling like electric currents, burning the furniture and walls. Pain wracked her shoulders as something heavy and wooden fell on her, and everything went black.


End file.
